Misery's Company
by Artemis Day
Summary: Harry is with Ginny, but he's in love with Hermione, so he leaves Ginny for Hermione, but Ginny isn't happy. HHR. Insane!Ginny.
1. Prolouge

The clock stuck 9, nine loud rings coming in perfect rhythm one after another until finally stopping. The room became silent now, except for the sound of falling water coming from the next room over. The rooms' only occupant currently is twenty two year old Harry Potter, sprawled on the bed occasionally glancing over at the door to the bathroom where his girlfriend of six years was at the moment, taking a shower. His looks however, weren't of lust or love for his girlfriend, but of nervousness. For tonight he was going to do something very difficult. He was going to break up with her.

As he looked back on the last couple of years he thought of how great Ginny had been. How much she helped him in seventh year, and how he had helped her get through the death of her brother Fred at the hands of the death eaters. Needless to say they'd been through a lot together, and Harry greatly appreciated her, but he just couldn't be with her anymore. For another had taken her place in his heart. A certain bushy-haired young woman.

For as long as he could remember, she had been right there next to him. She was there for him much longer than Ginny had. Hermione was his life line as well as his best friend, he didn't know how he could have managed through school or the fight against Voldemort without her. After the war she had begun dating their other best friend Ron Weasley. But after a year or so their interest in each other waned until they finally broke it off. Luckily, they got through it on good terms and were still great friends to this day. Hermione didn't even really mind when Ron began dating Luna Lovegood, who were now engaged to be married and happy as ever.

In the last two or so years, Harry began developing feelings for his friend, but denied it and tried to convince himself that those feelings were friendly and nothing more. But as time went on those feelings grew, until he could deny it no longer: he was in love with Hermione Granger.

Now here he was, about to have a very difficult conversation with his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend. The tense atmosphere lifted slightly when Harry heard the water turned off and Ginny step out of the shower. 'It's now or never Potter' he thought to himself.

He sat up in his bed and waited to hear the door open and Ginny soft voice call out to him.

"Hey handsome" she said sexily.

He looked her up and down, she was not dressed except for a towel wrapped tightly around her slim body, and she was still wet from her shower. Normally he would find this sight very appealing, but not this time. He cleared his throat nervously.

"Um…Ginny, I need to talk to you." He began.

Ginny's expression faltered a bit but she came over and sat down next to (and very close) to Harry. "What is it darling? You need another back rub?" She asked huskily.

Harry sighed; he could tell that this was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

"Um, Ginny…" he trailed off.

"Yes love?"

"Um, Ginny...you know how sometimes when you start something you're really confidant that it'll work out?"

A confused look crossed Ginny's face, "I guess" she answered slowly.

"Well...sometimes, those things just…don't work out." Harry finished, wondering if Ginny understood him, and by the dark look on her face, she did.

"Harry, what are you saying?" She growled.

"I'm saying that...this isn't working out Ginny, I want to break up." Harry said, finally uttering the words he'd been planning to speak for quite sometime now.

Now Harry had not expected Ginny to be keen on the idea of breaking up. He knew that she would be upset, and probably yell a lot. But Harry did not expect her to draw back her hand and smack him hard on the face before grabbing her wand from the nightstand.

Harry recoiled from her sudden attack in shock. He turned back to face her only to find himself at the opposite end of her wand. He put his hands up in surrender and stepped back a bit.

"Ginny, I think you need to relax." He started.

"Don't you tell me to relax Potter" she screeched. "You can not break up with me!"

"Ginny please, you have to understand, I do love you but like a sister, I-"

"Oh I get it, there's someone else isn't there? Who is it? Is it that Chang girl again? Or one of the Patils?" Ginny demanded furiously.

Her behavior was starting to scare Harry "Ginny please calm down and we can discuss this rationally."

She ignored that, "Wait, I know, its Hermione isn't it? You think that now that my brother has dumped her that she'll come to you. Well I'm not going to stand for this you are my boyfriend not that little sluts"

Harry nervousness vanished at that and turned to anger. He ripped the wand from Ginny's hand before she could do anything. She tried to hit him again but Harry was prepared this time. He caught her hand in mid swipe and held it. She struggled but Harry didn't let go. He thought that if he did she would try and get away and do something stupid.

"Now listen Ginny, you're right, it is someone else and that someone is Hermione, but don't call her a slut. I'm not your property Ginny, you can't just order me to love you." He explained firmly.

She didn't answer him, she wouldn't even look him in the eye.

"Now like I said before, I do still love you, but like a sister. I'll always value your friendship, I just can't be with you anymore. I know your upset with me fight now, but eventually you'll get over it and find someone else."

She still wouldn't answer, but she seemed to have calmed down, he slowly released her wrist and dropped her wand on the bed. She didn't speak or move but Harry knew she was listening. He sighed, he really didn't want it to end this way.

"I'm going to go now. I'm sorry Ginny." Harry said.

He turned away from her and walked out the door. Before stepping through the threshold he turned back to see if she had followed him. She hadn't. He lingered for a moment before stepping out and closing the door behind him.

Meanwhile, Ginny hadn't moved an inch since Harry had walked out the door. Her hand balled into fists and her eyes flared with rage. At that moment, something inside the mind of Ginevra Molly Weasley snapped.

"_I'll get you back my darling, even if it kills me...or you."_


	2. Chapter 1

It had been several weeks since Harry's supposedly perfect relationship with Ginny had ended. Harry did not regret doing it, but he did regret upsetting Ginny, even though he didn't love her anymore, she was still his friend and he cared about her. He was now in the company of Hermione Granger. The day after the break-up, he had gone to Hermione's flat and explained to her what had happened, and how he felt about her. To his joy, she felt the same way about him, but they agreed to take it slow, Harry didn't want to rush into another relationship so soon after ending his last one.

They were currently in Harry's London flat sitting at the kitchen table doing some paperwork for their jobs. Harry would steal glances at Hermione whenever he thought she wasn't looking. He couldn't help it, she was just so beautiful. In the last few years her hair had lost some of it's bushy-ness and was now more wavy then anything, she didn't really look much different besides that, but Harry still thought she was gorgeous.

After finishing their work, they decided to see it something was on TV (yes, Harry had a TV). They ended up putting on an action movie. Harry and Hermione sat on opposite ends of the couch and stared directly at the screen, but neither of them was really concentrating on the movie. Every few minutes or so, Harry would inch a little closer to Hermione, until he was sitting right next to her. Then he slowly raised his arm and faked a yawn. His arm came around Hermione's shoulders and was almost touching them when Hermione spoke up.

"I thought we were taking things slow." She said causing Harry to quickly pull his arm away.

"Um…I-I…" He stammered. "I just um…well-"

Hermione laughed. "Harry, why are you acting so nervous?"

Harry gulped. "Um…It's just that…I-I know we agreed to take things slow but I-I just…I mean you're so…um, you know what I don't know why I'm nervous." He concluded with a shrug, causing Hermione to laugh harder.

By the time Hermione's laughter ceased, they're faces were much closer together. Harry's nervousness seemed to have diminished as he boldly moved to close the gap between them. Their lips were an inch away from touching when suddenly, a ringing sound ripped through the air. Hermione pulled her ringing cellphone out of her pocket, and Harry immediately began regretting ever convincing his friends to get them.

"Hello?" Hermione said into the phone, "Hi Luna I-…what?...Luna, I can't underst- Luna calm down I can't understand what you're saying. Just breath for a minute okay…okay? Okay. Now what's wrong?"

Harry listened to all of this with growing anxiety, it sounded like something had really upset Luna, and it must have been something bad since it was very hard to make Luna seem even a little bit sad. Harry's fears only became worse when he saw the look on Hermione change from concern to shock. "What?!" She almost shouted into the phone:Oh my god, oh my god. A-alright Luna, we'll be there in a minute." Hermione quickly turned the phone off.

"Come on, we have to get to St. Mungo's" She said grabbing Harry's arm and attempting to drag him towards the fireplace.

"Hey hey wait a second Hermione what's going on, is Luna okay?" Harry said while trying to loosen Hermione tight grip on his arm to no avail.

"She's fine Harry, it's the Weasley's they've been attacked."

Not five minutes later, Harry and Hermione had flooed to St. Mungo's and were headed toward the emergency ward. They found a deeply shaken Luna Lovegood pacing down the hallway. When she saw her two best friends she immediately launched herself on them and began crying like she'd never cried before.

"Luna, please calm down, we need you to tell us what happened." Harry gasped.

Luna let go and leaned on the wall to support herself. "I-I don't know exactly, I wasn't there when it happened. I came to have dinner with Ron's family a-and when I got there the house was in ruins and the Weasley's-"She stopped to choke back a sob. "They-they're all dead."

Harry felt his insides freeze. His mind was spinning. The Weasley's, the closest thing he had ever had to a family were gone, it just couldn't be. "A-All?" He choked out.

"Yes, well all except Ron, he's in with the healers right now. I still can't believe he lived, but the healers said they don't know if he'll make it." Luna sobbed. By now she was crying so hard her slim body was shaking. Harry pulled his friend into a hug and allowed her to cry on his shirt while Hermione rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Don't worry Luna, Ron will make it, he's strong, he won't give up that easy you'll see." Harry said softly.

"B-but what if he doesn't. W-what if h-he dies? I've already lost my m-mother, I can't lose my fiancé t-too." Luna cried.

Harry hated seeing Luna this way, she was usually so happy with her head up in the clouds. Seeing one of his best friends so miserable made him feel horrible too, but it wasn't just her. All the Weasley's were dead except Ron, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, George, he even felt sad for Percy, but most of all, he was sad about Ginny. He had hoped that their friendship could be salvaged, but now that was impossible.

They stayed that way for several minutes. People walking by would casually glance at the scene but nobody really gave them much attention. When Harry next looked up, he saw a young looking female healer approaching them.

"Excuse me?" she said in a soft voice. "Are you friends of Ronald Weasley?"

Harry slowly nodded as Luna detached herself from him and began wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"Okay then, I'm Healer Roberts and I'm one of the healers treating your friend." She explained.

"Is he alright?" Luna asked very quietly.

Healer Roberts expression was unreadable. "Well, he'll live." She started.

The three friends all breathed sighs of relief. But the healer wasn't finished yet.

"But um…" she continued. "It's seems that when the house caved in, some of the debris landed on Mr. Weasley and it has caused damage to his spinal cord."

Harry felt his insides beginning to freeze again, he didn't like were this was going. He looked over at Luna whose expression, before happy at finding out that her love would live, was now darkening with fear.

"What do you mean by that?" Luna asked in a hollow voice.

Healer Roberts expression became sad. "What I mean is, the damage to his spinal cord has caused him to have permanent paralysis from the waist down, there's nothing we can do."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you saying he won't be able to walk anymore?"

The Healer sighed, and that was all the only response Harry needed. "I'm sorry." The healer said. "You can see him now if you want, but only for a few minutes, he needs to rest."

Harry looked at Hermione who had started to cry, and Luna whose eyes were filled with fresh tears. Harry nodded to the Healer who then proceeded to lead the trio to Ron's room.

The moment she got through the door, Luna ran to her fiancé and pulled him into the tightest hug she could. "Luna, please-I need air" Ron gasped.

"I thought you were dead, I thought you had left me." Luna shrieked through her tears as Harry and Hermione looked on from the other side of the room.

"Oh no Luna, I'm not going to leave you, don't worry about that, I'm just fine." Ron said comfortingly while stroking Luna's long blonde hair lovingly.

"But Ron, the healer said that you can't…can't-"

"Can't walk?" Ron supplied solemnly. "Maybe so Luna, but that doesn't matter right now, what matters is that I'm alive and we're still together."

Luna sniffed and wiped her tears away. "I love you so much Ron." She said before capturing his lips in a passionate kiss.

They broke their embrace after a long minute. Ron looked up over Luna's shoulder and smiled.

"Hey guys, what are you doing over there, come here." He said beckoning them over.

Harry and Hermione smiled and walked across the room to their best friends bed where they pulled him and Luna into a big hug.

"How are you feeling mate?" Harry asked.

"Well, I can't feel my legs, but other then that I'm good." Ron said trying to lighten the mood a little. Nobody laughed though. "Umm…my family they're...gone, aren't they?" He asked.

The room went silent. Harry knew that Ron knew they were gone, he just was having trouble excepting it. Slowly, tears started to form in Ron's eyes. He put his hands to his face and began to cry. Luna once again pulled him into a hug and soon, Harry and Hermione were in on it too. The four of them just cried and cried for their lost loved ones as outside, rain began to fall, as if the heavens themselves were weeping for their loss.

The rain fell down hard, but that did nothing to affect the young woman standing in the rain, her makeup dripping down her cheeks as she looked at the four people through the window. It was too dark out for them to see her, but she saw them very well. She pressed her fingers against the glass as she gazed at the black haired green eyed man she pined for, a look of longing on her face. Then she turned her attention to the bushy haired girl next to him and her stare turned cold. What she wouldn't give just to run in there right now and rip that girl's throat out, but she couldn't. Not yet anyway. A cruel smile formed on her lips as she backed slowly away from the window. '_Soon, my darling, soon you will be mine once again.'_ She silently promised, and with a loud crack, she vanished.

**A/N: I forgot to mention this in chapter one but this story is a response to one of my own challenges at Anyway I hope you like this chapter and if you did, tell me so.**


	3. Chapter 2

During such a sad period, time seems to pass very slowly. For Harry, the next three years were the slowest he'd ever had. With the Weasley's funeral, and Ron's slow recovery, it was a hard time for everyone.

Ron and Luna's wedding went on as planned only it was set back several months until Ron got out of the hospital. He now had to use a wheelchair, which had been magically enhanced to move according to Ron's thoughts (for instance, if he want to got left, the chair would go left) and to fly since he could no longer use a broom. Despite that, he had to quit his dream job as keeper for the chudley cannons. He now worked alongside his wife at The Quibbler, as a sportswriter.

Harry and Hermione eventually took their relationship to the next level. Now they were engaged to be married. They had opted for a small ceremony at the home of Hermione's parents. Ron would be Harry's best man, and Luna would be Hermione's maid of honor. The only other people would be there were Hermione's parents, Ron and Luna's one year old daughter Anna (conceived via artificial insemination), some of Harry friends from work, and several of Hermione's relatives who knew about her being a witch.

The night before the wedding Harry and Hermione were sitting in the flat they now shared talking about the honeymoon they would soon be going on.

"Do you think they have good food in Bermuda?" Hermione was saying.

"They'd better, or else we'll be spending two weeks in a hotel room starving." Harry commented.

Hermione giggled "Well then, we'll just have to find a way to keep our minds off it won't we?"

Harry chuckled at his beautiful fiancé and pulled her closer to him. "I suppose we will."

Then he closed the gap between them in a passionate kiss. After several minutes of snogging they broke apart to catch their breath. Harry noticed that Hermione had a solemn look on her face all of a sudden. "Knut for your thoughts?" he asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking about…well you know the Weasley's and how they won't be there at the wedding, I just really miss them." Hermione said wiping tears from her eyes.

Harry knew exactly how she felt, he had never gotten over their deaths, which was chalked up to be an attack by death eaters that hadn't been captured. No one really had nor would they ever.

"You know," Hermione started and Harry immediately gave her his full attention. "I once overheard Mrs. Weasley telling Mr. Weasley that one day I would marry Ron and you would marry Ginny." Hermione smiled a little at the memory. "Imagine what she would think now, if she saw us about to get married."

Harry gave a soft laugh, "Yeah, I bet she'd be really surprised."

"I miss them" Hermione whispered.

"I do too."

Whenever Harry needed to clear his mind, he would always go for a walk in the park outside his apartment building. It wasn't a large park, but it was peaceful, especially at night when no one was around except the crickets.

The fallen leaves crunched under Harry's feet as he walked forward keeping a steady rhythm. After his brief talk with Hermione, Harry excused himself to take a short walk in the park. The street lights were ablaze giving off enough light for Harry to see where he was going. Harry breathed in the night air slowly and enjoyed the cool breeze on his face. It was so very relaxing.

Despite the calmness he was now feeling, it was overshadowed by sadness. Even after three years he still felt numb whenever he thought of the Weasley family. Their deaths had come as such a shock, and Harry didn't even have the satisfaction of knowing the killers had been brought to justice, for they had never been found. Everyone (especially Luna) was thankful that Ron had survived even through he was handicap now, but that didn't make the pain of losing the rest of the family any less. Harry could only imagine how things would be different if it hadn't happened. Ron would still be able to walk, Fleur would not be a widow, and maybe Harry could have bridged fences with Ginny.

A sound like leaves crunching suddenly ripped through the air making Harry's body tense up. He turned his head and looked back the way he had come. Seeing nothing, Harry turned back around and continued his walk, but his feelings of unease stayed with him.

As Harry walked he couldn't help but noticed how loud the crickets had suddenly become, or how the fallen leaves sounded when Harry stepped on them. He silently berated himself for getting so nervous over a little sound that was probably just a squirrel scampering across the pathway but his nervous feeling would not let up. He picked up the pace a bit his breathing becoming harder. He was starting to feel a presence behind him, which only made him more nervous. He quickened his pace more and heard what he thought were footsteps behind him. Now fully convinced he was being followed, he prepared to turned around and face the person when-

'RING'

Harry must have jumped ten feet in the air when his phone went of. He spun right around to find…nothing, nothing at all. With thoughts of his stupidity in his mind and the ringing in his ears, he pulled the cellphone out of his pocket, turned it on and brought it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey mate" came the voice of Ron. Harry smiled a little.

"Hey Ron, how are you doing?" Harry asked his long time friend.

"I'm good, we just put Anna to bed and Luna won't stop talking about your wedding tomorrow. How's Hermione?"

"She's good, excited, but then again we both are. I just can't believe we're finally getting married." Harry said, his heart swelling at the mere thought.

"Yeah, I'm happy for you guys." Ron said.

It made Harry happy that Ron was okay with him and Hermione even though he once had a crush on her himself.

"Anyway, I was just calling to see if you had any pre-wedding jitters and needed some advice since you know I've been through the whole marriage thing and all…" Ron explained.

Harry chuckled. "No thanks Ron, I'm fine. I was feeling a little weird earlier but I'm taking a walk now and that always helps."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah" Harry answered. "I don't know what it is about it, but I always take walks through the little park a block away from my building and it's such a good way to clear my head, it's so peaceful out here at night, well usually."

"What do you mean usually?" Ron asked curiously.

"Well, before you called, I kept getting this feeling like someone was following me, but I suppose I was just a parano-

Right then, a huge force slammed into Harry's backside sending the phone flying out of his hands and him into a bush. He tried to get up but he got tangled up in the large bush. Form a distance, Harry could hear Ron calling his name from the forgotten phone, as well as a shadowy figure slowly approaching him. Harry struggled harder against the leaves but was unable to get free as the figure reached him, took out a wand and pointing it at him, silently cast a spell. The last thing Harry saw was a bright red light searing towards him, then nothing.

The phone rang loudly in the small flat. Hermione got up from the bed where she had been reading a book waiting for Harry to return. Wondering if perhaps it were Harry calling to tell her he was coming back, Hermione picked up the phone and brought the receiver to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hermione, its Ron"

Hermione noticed that Ron sounded a bit panicked, which made her uneasy. "Ron, is everything alright?"

"No, I was just on the phone with Harry when…" he trailed off.

Hermione unease had immediately turned to fear when Ron had mentioned Harry. "What Ron, what about Harry?"

"Hermione, I think something's happened to him."

Harry slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. The first thing he had seen upon opening his eyes was a wooden ceiling. He was in a small room with off white walls that were mostly bare except for the small window to his left and the wooden door across the room. Shocked and confused, Harry tried to get up but found…he couldn't move. Try as he might, he could not get his body to obey him, he couldn't even feel anything from the neck down anymore.

He was starting to panic, where was he? He nearly jumped when the door opened and in came someone he never thought he would see again.

Harry was stunned into silence, he could only look at the young women in front of him whom he and everyone else believed had been dead for a long time. Before him, stood Ginny Weasley.

Ginny smiled strangely at him when he saw he was awake. "You're up, wonderful" she said as she approached him.

"G-Gin-"Harry stammered, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, this had to be a dream.

"Yes darling it's me" Ginny said her smile growing.

Once again, Harry tried in vain to move. This only made Ginny giggle.

"You're so cute when you're scared."

"What's going on? You're supposed to be-"Harry couldn't say it.

Ginny's smile faltered for the first time since she'd entered the room. Sighing, she sat at the foot of the bed, her head down.

"Dead? I know, it's hurt me so much that I had to make you think that, but it was necessary at the time. I'm sorry to have made you so upset."

Then Ginny glanced back up and Harry and the strange smile reappeared on her face. "But that's okay my darling, it's all in the past. Now we can start anew, just you and me."

Then, Harry noticed a certain gleam in her eye that made his heart almost stop. It was not a normal gleam; it was one that no normal person should have, it was one that went past anger and hate, it was one of pure insanity. Now Harry felt truly afraid.

"Don't worry Harry darling; everything is going to be fine"


	4. Chapter 3

Harry was numb; figuratively and literally. Now only was his thought to be dead ex-girlfriend alive, but she had kidnapped him. Harry could not believe that Ginny would go so crazy over them breaking up. For two days now he had been trapped in that room, unable to make even his pinky finger move. This made it horribly awkward whenever he had to relieve himself. He had asked Ginny what she had done to him every time she came to give him food but she always ignored him.

Ginny came to see him about five times a day; three times to bring him food, and twice just to stare at him with a dreamy expression to rival Luna's. She never said much to him. The only time she spoke was right before she left the room, she would tell him she loved him and blow him a kiss.

Harry became more nervous every day. He could only imagine how scared Hermione was; they were supposed to get married when he was kidnapped. She had probably called the police and if she didn't, Ron did, they had been on the phone when it happened, and he had to have realized something was wrong. Harry could only hope that the Aurors would find him soon.

* * *

On the third day, when Ginny brought Harry his lunch, he asked her the question he had been meaning to ask since he got there.

"How did you survive?"

Ginny looked up at him with confusion in her eyes. "What?"

"How did you survive the attack?" Harry reiterated.

Ginny's confusion washed away, replaced by a rather peculiar look. "Attack? You mean like a Death Eater attack? Is that what they said it was?"

Now Harry was confused. "Yeah, isn't that what happened?"

Ginny chuckled and shook her head. "Harry Harry Harry, I thought you would know better. You guys killed all the death eaters in the war; they couldn't have attacked my family."

Harry's head was beginning to hurt. "I don't understand, then who-"

Harry was cut short as a dark realization washed over him. Ginny's smile grew wider when she saw he had figured it out. Harry had never been more horrified in his life.

"Oh Ginny, No" He whispered, tears forming in his eyes.

Ginny began rubbing his cheeks softly, if Harry could move he would have pushed her off of him, but he was still unable to move somehow.

"Oh please don't cry darling, I hate when you're sad, especially when I'm the one who caused it." Ginny said.

"Ginny, you killed them. Your family. You killed them" Harry moaned. He was beginning to feel nauseous.

"I know Harry baby, I didn't want to do it, but I had to, they didn't understand. They didn't understand the love between us darling. They said I was crazy, they tried to send me away to a place were I'd never see you again, I had to stop them." Ginny explained tearfully.

Harry's breathing was becoming heavier and heavier. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ginny, sweet shy little Ginny had killed her family, because they thought she was crazy, and she was, she was crazy. His mind was racing and so was his heart. He felt beads of sweat begin to run down his forehead as he began hyperventilating.

Ginny's eyes widen and her smile vanished once she realized what was happening. "Oh god, Harry you're having a panic attack. Oh my poor baby." She cried.

She hugged him tightly more a quick moment before running to the door. "I'll be back in a minute Harry, I'm going to get you a calming drought." She called back to him as she sprinted out the door. Leaving Harry alone. He recalled Hermione's mother once telling him that if you're having a panic attack, it's a good idea to start taking deep breaths. He took a few deep breaths and felt himself calm down a little, still he hoped that Ginny would hurry up with that calming drought.

Finally, Ginny returned holding a small flask filled with bluish-green liquid. "Here darling, drink this." She said holding the flask over his mouth.

Ginny lifted him up a little and poured the potion into his open mouth. Harry swallowed quickly and to his relief, the potion immediately started taking affect. Ginny held his head to her chest and rocked back and forth, muttering about how sorry she was for causing that. As Harry's breathing finally slowed to normal, it occurred to him just how seriously in trouble he was.

* * *

Ginny stopped coming in for four days after that. She would come to feed him his breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but that was all. Harry figured she felt bad about causing his panic attack. It made Harry very upset to see that she had no qualms about killing her family but hated herself when she caused Harry to hyperventilate.

It had been a week since he was kidnapped when Harry's finger twitched. He had not expected it, and he had given up trying to move two days before it happed. He decided whatever Ginny had done to him, he could do nothing about. He had been staring up at the ceiling, imagining how his wedding would have gone.

He would be standing at the makeshift altar with the preacher, and Ron. Hermione's mother would be sitting in the front row, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief as her only child got married. Next to her would be Andromeda Tonks, smiling at her grandson's godfather. Three-year-old Teddy Lupin would be the ring bearer. Standing with the rings in a little tuxedo, his (normally) brown hair slicked back. Then the wedding march would begin, and finally, his beautiful angel in white. Accompanied by her beaming father, Hermione would be a beautiful vision. Harry would watch as she and her father slowly approached the altar. Her father would gave away Hermione to Harry happily.

Then the preacher would ask Harry if he took Hermione Jean Granger to be his lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as they both should live.

"I do" Harry would say.

Then he would asked Hermione, did she take Harry James Potter to be her lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as they both should live.

"I do" She would say, happy tears forming in her eyes.

Then he would asked for the rings, little Teddy would come over with the rings and give one to Harry and one to Hermione. Harry would put his on Hermione's finger and Hermione would do the same for Harry. Finally, the preacher would pronounce them man and wife, and allow them to kiss.

The crowd would cheer for the newly wedded couple. But neither Harry nor would really hear it, they would be lost in their first kiss as a married couple, as Mr. and Mrs. Harry Potter.

'My god it would've been beautiful' Harry thought to himself.

And then his finger twitched. Harry was so caught up in his fantasy that he didn't notice the first time. But the second time he felt it, and it made his heart soar. In the last few days, he had realized that Ginny had no intention of letting him go, and he had been trying to find a way to escape. This proved complicated because not only couldn't he move, but he had no idea where he was or even if he was still in Britain. He had begun to give up hope, but seeing that finger twitch renewed his belief that he could get out of this. He figured that whatever Ginny had given him was wearing off, and he could only hope that she didn't notice.

In the next few hours, Harry regained feeling in both his arms as well as in his left foot. He used his arms to push himself into a sitting position. For the first time now he was able to see out the window. He could not see any houses or cars which made his heart sink a bit. He did see that wherever he was, it was wintertime. Fresh snow coated the ground as well as the towering trees across the way.

He was so caught up in his happiness, he failed to notice the footsteps coming toward his door until it was too late. Harry's heart dropped the moment Ginny came in and saw him sitting up. For a long moment, nobody moved, and then Ginny's mouth twisted into a frown. "Hmmm…it seems the potion has started to wear off." She commented.

This did nothing but make Harry nervous. He had had a feeling that a potion was what paralyzed him, but he was sure that if Ginny had such a potion in the first place, she had a lot of it, enough to immobilize him once again. "Potion?" he asked.

Ginny's frown became a smile and she let out a soft giggle, "Oh darling, did you really think I would have hid out for so long if I didn't need time to prepare."

She walked over to a small cupboard on one side of the room and pulled out her wand "alohomora" she muttered.

The cupboard door flew open revealing, to Harry's dismay, shelves full of potion flasks. In each flask was a sickly purplish liquid. Ginny pulled a flask from the top shelve and once again magically locked the door.

"It's a very rare potion. It took me two years just to find all the ingredients, and seven months to brew it, but it all paid off in the end, I now have enough to last ten men for months. It's called the Novriltus potion, causes the drinker to be completely paralyzed for about a week, and by the looks of things, you're about ready for another dose."

She uncorked the flask.

"What if I don't drink it?" Harry asked defiantly, bravery coming to him from who-knows-where.

Ginny frowned, "What are you saying Harry?"

"I'm saying, what if I don't drink it? Do you really think you can keep me here forever Ginny? The Aurors will find you eventually, and then they'll take you to Azkaban." Harry said before he could stop himself.

Ginny's eyes flared in anger which renewed Harry's nervousness. For a long minute, Ginny looked like they could set fire with her eyes, she was squeezing the flask so hard cracks began to appear. Then finally, Ginny calmed down. Her eyes went back to normal and a smile appeared on her face.

"Oh darling, you're going to leave me, you're not going anywhere. Well, not yet anyway, once the search for you is called off we will leave this place forever, but for now, I need you to take this." Ginny said.

"What if I refuse to take it?" Harry asked firmly.

"Then I'll just pour it into your mouth." Ginny answered, the smile never leaving her face.

"Then I won't swallow." Harry stated crossing his arms.

Ginny's smile grew wider. As she pushed him back down and forced his mouth open. Harry struggled against her, but he was weak from being paralyzed for a week and she easily subdued him.

"Believe me darling, you will swallow." She said.

With that, she poured the purple liquid into Harry's dry mouth. If Ginny hadn't cover his mouth with her hands immediately after the potion entered his mouth, Harry definitely would have spit it out. Ginny's hand stifled Harry's scream of agony as the potion burned the inside of his mouth. The pain he was feeling was second only to the cruciatus curse. It felt like he had drunk acid.

"Swallow it Harry" Ginny commanded.

Harry flailed with all his might but he couldn't knock Ginny of him, and every second, the pain grew worse, Harry knew he could not fight Ginny in his weak state, his only other option was to swallow the vial potion.

"Swallow it Harry, it won't go away until you swallow" Ginny said loudly.

Finally, Harry could take the pain no longer, and he forced himself to swallow the potion. Immediately, he felt relief from the potion's burning effects. The potion worked very fast, and soon, Harry arms fell limp at his sides once again. Ginny repositioned Harry back to the way he was before and, to Harry's disgust, planted a kiss on his forehead.

"There now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked in a way a mother might talk to a child.

Harry didn't answer her. Ginny stood up straight again and began walking out the door. Just like every other time, she stopped at the door and turned around.

"I love you." She said and blew him a kiss.

Then she slowly closed the door leaving Harry alone. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Once again, he was stuck immobile. In a week, Ginny would give him that horrible potion again unless he found a way out of this, and the odds were not in his favor.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, Chapter Four is done. Next chapter we'll be checking in on Hermione and the search for Harry will begin. Also, I slipped in a reference to my favorite non-series book in this chapter, see if you can spot it. (If you've read the book or even seen the movie, it shouldn't be hard to find) Here's a hint: The book in question was written by Stephen King.**


	5. Chapter 4

In the days since Harry Potter's disappearance it was not uncommon to see his harrowed fiancé sitting at the kitchen table staring out the window. It had now been almost a week since his disappearance and the Aurors had not found even the slightest trace of evidence. She would gaze at the glass paned window waiting or at the barren fireplace just waiting for any kind of news on Harry.

She of course, had been searching too. She must have scoured the whole city looking for him, but all that she had found was his cell phone abandoned in the park near their flat. This did nothing other than fuel the theory that Harry had been kidnapped, although how and by whom remained a mystery. What they did know for sure was that whoever kidnapped Harry had taken him somewhere outside of Great Britain. There were now Aurors as well as volunteers searching for Harry in France, Spain, and about ten other countries in Europe.

The news of Harry Potter's disappearance (and possible kidnapping) had traveled throughout the entire wizarding world, and Hermione as well as Ron and Luna had had to fight of more than one nosy reporter. The whole thing was hard on everyone. Ron was basically a mess, having already lost his family; it now looked like he was going to lose his best friend too. Luna was, as always, trying to stay positive, but Hermione and Ron both knew she was scared too.

As day 8 passed without any leads, the wizarding world was beginning to lose hope that they would ever find their savior. Hermione refused to lose hope though, she knew that Harry was out there somewhere, and she would do whatever she had to in order to find him.

* * *

Hermione heard a loud knock on the door and groaned. If it were another reporter she swore she was going to become violent. She pulled herself up of the couch and walked across the hall to the door.

Opening it, she was relieved to find not a reporter or an auror, but Ron and Luna. Hermione noticed that Ron looked a bit disheveled; she knew that was because he had been spending so much time these last few days trying to aid in the search for Harry as much as he could, however with his limited mobility, this was proving to be difficult.

"Hey Hermione, I hope we didn't catch you at a bad time." Luna greeted.

Hermione smiled, "No you didn't, as a matter of fact, I could use some company, come on in."

Hermione got them all some coffee while Luna sat at the end of the sofa. Ron directed his chair to rest right next to it.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Ron asked when Hermione walked back in.

Hermione shook her head sadly. Ron sighed, "Yeah, neither have we. I spoke to the Auror whose heading the search party earlier and he said they didn't have any leads yet, but they would keep me updated."

"I don't think they're going to find him." Hermione commented softly.

Ron and Luna stared at her, "What do you mean?"

"Well we're wizards aren't we?!" Hermione snapped, "With all our magic shouldn't it be easy to find him?"

"Hermione calm down!" Luna said loudly getting up, "You're not thinking rationally, Ron and I both agree that Harry must have been taken by someone who really knew what they were doing."

If the situation had been different, Hermione would be amazed that she would ever be told to 'think rationally' by Luna Lovegood-Weasley, but she knew that Luna was right. She couldn't afford to lose her head now, especially not if Ron and Luna were right and by the looks of things, they were.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, her voice cracking as tears began to form in her eyes, "I just can't believe this is happening. We should have been married last week, we should be on our honeymoon right now. I just…"

Hermione couldn't finished, for she had finally let her emotions take control and had burst into tears. Luna immediately rushed over to her best female friend and wrapped her arms around her in a comforting fashion, while Ron reached out to rub her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay Hermione," he said trying to sound confidant, "They'll find him, you'll see."

Hermione managed to stop crying long enough to wipe away her tears and pull herself from Luna's embrace.

"I hate feeling so weak." She said shakily.

Ron nodded his head in understanding, "I know, I can't really do anything to help, not when…well you know." Even though it had been three years since it happened, Ron still had a hard time acknowledging his disability, "And now, I think I may be cracking up, I keep having these dreams…" he trailed off.

This peaked Hermione's curiosity, "What kind of dreams Ron?"

Ron looked at his wife with uncertainty, as if he was unsure that he should tell Hermione. Luna gave him an encouraging smile which seemed to reassure him.

"Well, they've been coming almost every night for the last five or six nights. I'm in my old house, but it's burning down all around me and I keep getting these flashes of images of my family screaming or in pain, or…or dead and…there's someone else this…figure it- it looks like a person but I can- I can never see their face, I don't know what it means and it's starting to scare me to be perfectly honest."

Hermione didn't know what to make if that, she only knew that Ron must have been having flashbacks of the night his family was killed but what she didn't understand what had triggered it.

"Well enough about me," Ron said after a beat, "We need to concentrate on Harry not me."

"I suppose so." Luna said.

Hermione nodded, "Say um…have any Aurors come to talk to you guys?"

Ron scoffed, "A few, they said they needed to 'question' us to make sure we weren't a part of the disappearance, even made us take veriteserum, can you believe that?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, she was amazed at how paranoid the Ministry had gotten since Voldemort's second coming. "They came to see me too," Hermione responded, "But it went a little differently…"

* * *

_"I hope you don't if we record this." The Auror named McKnight asked her._

"_If you must." Hermione answered emotionlessly._

_Auror McKnight nodded and pulled out a magical tape recorder. He tapped it twice with his wand to turn it on and then he and his partner, Auror Wicks began their questioning._

"_Okay, please give us your full name." McKnight requested._

"_Hermione Jean Granger." _

"_Can you tell us your relation to Mr. Harry Potter?" asked Wicks._

"_He's my fiancé."  
_

"_Did you notice him behaving strangely before his disappearance?" McKnight._

"_No."_

"_He didn't have any odd visitors or stay out later or anything like that?" Wicks._

"_No."_

"_Do you know if he has any enemies?" McKnight. _

"Of course he does, he's Harry Potter." 

"_Well…yes but do you think any of them could have taken him?" Wicks. _

"I'm not sure." 

"_I see…Ms. Granger, have you considered the possibility that your fiancé wasn't kidnapped?" Asked McKnight._

_Hermione's head snapped up and she stared at the Auror incredulously. "Excuse me?"_

"_Ms. Granger, we have found nothing to indicate that Mr. Potter was kidnapped other than his um…whatever that muggle device was lying in the park, and that's just not enough to go by." McKnight explained._

"_You need to start considering the possibility that maybe Mr. Potter left by his own accord." Added Wicks._

_Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing, anger began welling up inside her, "Are you saying that you think Harry ran away, why the hell would he do that?!"_

"_Ms. Granger, please do not talk to us that way," McKnight requested, "And there are many reasons Mr. Potter could have ran away, he might have been having financial problems or he got cold feet about the wedding or there's someone else or-"_

_Hermione exploded, "What did you just say?" she asked in a dangerously low voice, "Did you just suggest that Harry ran off with someone else?!?!"_

"_Ms. Granger-"Wicks began._

"_No, don't you 'Ms. Granger' me you, I'm only going to say this once so listen up, I have known Harry for over ten years and he would never ever do that to me or anyone else, he's the most loyal person I know. I know that he was kidnapped, he did not runaway, someone took him and they still have him and he could be dead by now! But what are you people doing? NOTHING! You're sitting here trying to convince me that he just picked up and left with some woman."_

"_Ms. Granger, we didn't mean-"_

"_No that's it, this conversation is over, you have a missing man to look for so you have no time to sit here talking to me, now get ou t!"_

"_Ms. Granger-"_

"_OUT!"

* * *

_

Neither Ron nor Luna could help but laugh at how Hermione had handled that situation. Looking back, Hermione couldn't help but smile a little as well.

"Well, at least they didn't use truth potion on you." Ron said.

"Yeah, lucky me." Hermione muttered sarcastically.

"Well um…I'm sorry to cut this short, but we told our babysitter we'd be home at seven and it's already quarter to." Luna said standing up.

Hermione sighed, she didn't want to be left alone again, but she wasn't about going to keep them, "Alright, thanks for stopping by guys."

Ron smiled at his friend, "We'll try and come by tomorrow."

With that, the Weasley couple headed out the door closing it behind them. Hermione sighed and went to but their coffee cups in the sink, she didn't feel like cleaning them now. She plopped down on the couch and spent a few seconds staring at the blank white wall. Then she rolled over on to her back and from that angle, hade an upside-down view of a framed picture on the side table. Reaching out, she pulled the picture from it's spot and stared longingly at it.

The photo depicted her and Harry when they went on vacation to an American amusement park called Six Flags Great Adventure. Harry had his arms wrapped around Hermione's waist and his lips were pressed against her cheek while was laughing happily. Hermione's fingers lightly ran down the glass protecting the photo and tears formed anew in her eyes. She hugged the photo to her chest and quietly spoke:

"I'll find you Harry, no matter what it takes, I'll bring you home."

* * *

**A?N: I am so sorry for the delay, but I have had the worst case of writers block ever. I apologize for how boring this chapter is but I promise things will start to pick up next chapter, which I hope to have out much sooner than I did this one. Anyway, don't forget to leave a review on you're way out and I'll see you next chapter. **


	6. Chapter 5

Harry's eyes snapped open. His eyes darted around the room and he quickly realized that he was not in the dark room Ginny was holding him in. _'What happened?'_ He wondered as he lifted his hand to rub the sleep from his eyes. Wait, he _lifted_ his arm?

His eyes wide, Harry tried to lift his other arm and found that he could. It was as if Ginny had never once given him a Novriltus potion. Cautiously, Harry sat up and finally realized where he was, it was his bedroom. Harry's mind was swimming as he tried to figure out what had happened. He knew there was no way Ginny would have let him out, maybe someone had finally found him, but if that was true, why wasn't he in St. Mungo's, and why hadn't they woken him up?

'_What if it was all a dream?'_ The thought struck him hard and he began to wonder. Could he really have dreamed all?

Sudden movement next to him pulled Harry from his thoughts. He glanced downward and his heart swelled when he saw a mess of bushy brown hair resting on a pillow. Hermione lifted her head slowly and looked up at him smiling.

"Morning, did you just wake up?" she asked a little groggily.

Harry was so full of joy and relief that he didn't think he would be able to speak a single coherent phrase, so instead he quickly pulled his love into a tight hug which she returned after a moment of surprise at his actions.

"I'm guessing that's a no?" Hermione said, it was really more of a statement than a question.

"You got it; I had the most horrible dream." Harry said into Hermione's hair, now fully convinced that everything that had happened really had been just a nightmare, "I'm just glad it's over now."

To Harry's surprise, Hermione pulled away from him right then, a sad look in her eye.

"What wrong luv?" Harry asked confused.

Hermione just kept give him that melancholy look and said: "I'm sorry Harry."

Harry didn't know what to say, all he knew was that he was starting to become very nervous.

"Hermione, what is it?"

Hermione face still did not change as she leaned forward as if to kiss him, but to his surprise, she moved over toward his ear and softly whispered, "Wake up Harry."

Harry gasped in shock as Hermione and his bedroom seemed to melt away, and he began to fall into the darkness.

* * *

"Wake up Harry." A hushed voice sounded again.

Harry's eyes cracked open and his heart dropped when he saw Ginny staring down at him. Ginny grinned at him.

"Good, you're finally awake, it's time for breakfast. I made you all your favorites." She said cheerfully.

Tears began to fall from Harry's eyes.

* * *

It started raining that day around noon. Harry couldn't see it of course since Ginny's potion prevented him from turning his head to look out the window, but he could still hear the rain pelting down on the glass. Ginny didn't come in to give him his lunch like she usually did. Around what Harry thought was mid-afternoon, he began to wonder if perhaps she had left. Or maybe she had been in some kind of accident and wouldn't be coming back again. If that was the case, all he would have to do was wait a few more days until the potion wore off and then he could try and find a way to contact someone.

At almost sundown though, Ginny came in, carrying with her a tray which held his dinner. Harry felt a bit of disappointment when she walked in, part of him really had believed that her absence throughout most of the daylight hours had meant something had happened to her, despite its unlikelihood.

Ginny silently fed him his roast chicken, which was odd for her. Normally she would talk on and on about old memories of their time as a couple and the times they might one day share. But not tonight, tonight she seemed two thousand miles away. This worried Harry, he wondered if perhaps something had happened to make her spiral further down in her insanity, it got to a point were he had to know what was wrong.

"Ginny?" He called softly, "Is everything alright?"

Ginny did not move and her expression did not change. Harry wondered if perhaps she had not heard him, until she finally spoke:

"The rain, it kind of brings me down."

Harry stared at her but said nothing, sure that she would continue.

"It rained the night I killed them, and it rained a lot when I was preparing all of this. I traveled a lot you know, getting everything ready. I bought this house because of how secluded it is. I always thought that was really romantic, a man and a woman in love, alone together in the small house in the woods. It's just so beautiful."

As she spoke she got up and slowly walked toward the window. As she stared out at the rain, Harry felt a mixture of emotions ranging from confusion to anger to disgust.

"Ron can't walk you know." He said.

Ginny turned away from the window and stared at him, "Excuse me?"

Harry's eyes narrowed, "You heard me, Ron can't walk, he's paralyzed because of what you did. Or did you already know that too?"

Ginny's face was expressionless and she seemed unsure of how to answer that at first. "Yes, I know. Believe me Harry, I may have killed my parents and my other brothers, but I never intended to hurt Ron. He always was my favorite brother, even after he found out my plan the thought of killing him too never crossed my mi-"

"Wait a second," Harry interrupted, his eyes filled with surprise and confusion, "Did you just say that Ron knew about…all this?"

Ginny gave him a look that seemed to say 'isn't it obvious?' and said, "Of course he knew, he was there. Like I said before, I never wanted to hurt him. His paralysis was an accident."

Harry didn't respond to that; his head was spinning with confusion. So Ginny had purposely left Ron alive. So that explained that, but what Harry couldn't understand was how if Ron knew that Ginny killed her family, why didn't he tell the aurors that, why did he let everyone continue to believe that she had perished along with the rest of the Weasley's? _'Could he have been in on it?'_ Harry wondered, _'No, that's impossible, she must have put a memory charm on him, that's got to be it.'_

By this time, Ginny had turned back towards the window and her somber expression had returned. They were both silent for a few moments, and the only audible sound was the rain outside.

"It's funny, when I first killed them, I kind of thought I would feel bad for it, like I would feel some regret, but I never did. I didn't lose any sleep over it, and now I know why."

She turned back to Harry and he was surprised to see a tear fall down her face, but it wasn't a sad tear, it was a tear of joy.

"I know now that it was always meant to be, just like we were. I was meant to kill them, to prevent them from tearing us apart. What we have is so deep, that nothing can ever destroy it, I have made sure of that, and soon we will join together forever and then, we truly can be together forever, just you and me my darling."

Harry could not believe what he was hearing, if he had had any doubts about Ginny being insane before, they had now been shattered. His fear of her once again began to grow as the severity of the situation increased. He did not know exactly what Ginny had planned, but whatever it was, he knew it would not be good. He just hoped he could figure out an escape route before then.

"It's not only Ron who suffered from what you did. I considered them my family, I considered you my family Ginny, and Hermione did to, and Luna hasn't been the same since it happened either. There's also Fleur, she's raising Victorie all alone, can't you see all the damage you've caused?" Harry desperately asked.

Ginny was taken aback by this, she didn't answer right away, she just let out a sigh, "Sometimes when two people are meant to be, they must make some sacrifices to be with each other, that's all I did, I made some sacrifices for us."

"Sacrifices?" Harry asked softly yet furiously, "SACRIFICES?! FOR GOD'S SAKE GINNY, THEY WERE YOUR FAMILY, YOU OWN FLESH AND BLOOD!!"

Ginny did not seem affected by Harry's outburst. She calmly moved back towards the window and stared out. "I already explained this to you Harry, they were in the way of our love, I did what I did for us and I don't regret it."

Harry couldn't even look at her now, so he just closed his eyes tried to prevent himself from crying again. For the third time now, Ginny's sad expression returned as she watched the rain fall.

"You know, while I was traveling, I spent a lot of time hiding in muggle areas. I discovered that my father's love for them may not have been as weird as everyone once thought it was."

Harry did not open his eyes but she did not seem to notice.

"I'm not particularly fond of their habits or of their lifestyle, but I have found that they greatly excel when it comes to weaponry."

This finally caused Harry to open his eyes. He now saw that she had begun fingering her jacket pocket. She reached into it, and Harry's breath caught in his throat when from it she drew a small handgun. He wondered just how long she had had it and what she planned to do with it, all with growing fear and anxiety.

"I've got this gun," she said, "Sometimes I think about using it."

She turned away from the window and looked at him with a peculiar expression.

"I should go; I may put bullets in it."

With that she slowly turned and walked out of the room closing the door behind her, once again leaving Harry alone to his fear and to his misery.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, just so everyone knows, Ginny's last few lines in this are taken from the movie version of Misery, but since this story is partially based on it anyway, I like to think of this as more of a homage to the book/movie. Anyway I apologize for the slowness in updates but real life has been hitting me kind of hard lately. Hopefully I'll have some free time to work on this and my other stories soon. Well, I can't think of anything else to say except don't forget to review, and I'll see you next time.**


	7. Chapter 6

Hermione had done enough waiting. Ten days had passed since Harry's disappearance and they still had nothing; no clues, no leads, nothing. Hermione had put her faith in the Auror's and the people who volunteered to help search, and they had not come through for her or Harry. It was time to take matters into her own hands.

* * *

"Er…Hermione are you sure you want to do this?" Ron questioned his friend.

"Yes Ronald, I am," Hermione answered curtly as she continued down the hallways of the Ministry of Magic.

She had been considering doing this since those two Aurors came to talk to her, she hadn't been sure if it was necessary, but she was now, the situation was becoming more critical by the second. For all Hermione knew, Harry could be dead by now, and then what?

Harry had been working as an Auror ever since he defeated Voldemort eight years ago. It had been his dream job ever since sixth year, and he was very happy when he completed his training. Hermione remembered one night several months ago when neither she nor Harry could sleep. They stayed up most of the night just talking about one subject after another. Eventually, they got to talking about Harry's Auror work. He had told Hermione that even though he loved his job, there were two things about it that he absolutely detested.

One was the long work hours, which Hermione could totally understand. She had lost count of how many times Harry had come home and almost collapsed in the doorway. The other thing about his work that bothered him to no end was his boss. Auror Goldman had been a strong supporter of Fudge during his term as Minister. The only reason he had not been fired yet was because he was well connected and had supposedly once saved an entire muggle village from a giant attack, and he only accepted Harry into the Auror department because he had scored the highest in his final exams. According to Harry, Goldman was the most pig-headed bastard he had ever met and the he didn't tell him so solely because he didn't want to get fired. Goldman was reportedly not particularly fond of muggle-borns either, which only made it worse.

Ron had tried numerous times to talk her out of going to talk with the head Auror, not because he didn't want her to help the search, but because he did not think that Auror Goldman would listen to her. Despite all his attempts though, he was unable to persuade her otherwise. Once Hermione Granger made up her mind, nothing in the world could change it.

Hermione was really a bit nervous about talking to this man who had such a bad reputation, but he was the head of the Auror department so she had no choice. They continued down the hallway until they got to the elevators. Entering one that was empty they selected they're floor and stood in silence waiting until the elevator made it. Once they reached they're floor and exited the elevator, conversation struck up again.

"Hermione, you know that this guy isn't going to listen to you right?" Ron asked.

Hermione turned to him looking offended and Ron realized what he had said.

"I didn't mean it like that Hermione, I just meant that this guy is really stubborn and bigoted against muggle-borns, I don't know if he'll listen to you."

"He's going to have to Ronald, I'm not taking no for an answer." Hermione answered sternly.

Ron didn't question her again; he knew there was no stopping her now. When they reached the hall where his office was located, Hermione walked straight over to his bored looking secretary and coughed to get her attention.

"Can I help you?" The woman drawled.

"Yes, I'm Hermione Granger; I made an appointment with Head Auror Goldman." Hermione answered formally.

The secretary paused a moment, then grabbed a small black book off her desk and flipped through for a few seconds. "Hm, let me see…ah, here you are, okay hang on."

She took a piece of parchment out from a drawer in her desk and quickly scrawled a note on it before folding into a paper airplane and casually throwing it over her shoulder, Hermione and Ron watched as it sailed down the hallway behind the secretary's desk and suddenly turned left disappearing from sight. Five minutes later, another paper airplane came flying out of the hallway. It landed in front of the secretary and she picked it up. Unfolding it, she quickly read its contents and then glanced up at the two visitors.

"Head Auror Goldman will see you now," She told them, "Down the hall, third door on the left."

"Thank you." Hermione said gratefully.

Hermione and Ron slowly began walking down the silent hall. They past the first and second down and soon reached the third. From inside Hermione could hear two men talking. One of the voices sounded vaguely familiar to Hermione but she couldn't pinpoint it's owner until she knocked on the door and it slowly opened for her.

The room's two occupants turned to look at the new arrivals; the first man was sitting in a large, rather comfortable looking chair. He was in his mid to late fifties with quite a few wrinkles; his brown hair was thinning a bit and his brown eyes hard. His hands were entwined on his desk and he seemed to have an air of superiority about him most likely born of the large ego he was said to possess. He seemed to have a way about him that made Hermione feel a little nervous, but those feelings were overshadowed by the shock and disgust she felt when she laid eyes on the second man.

"Malfoy?" She said before she could stop herself.

Draco Malfoy simply scoffed at the woman before turning his attention back to Auror Goldman, "We'll have to finish this discussion later sir, I would rather not have an audience."

"Of course Mr. Malfoy," Goldman answered in a deep voice, "Have a pleasant evening."

Draco turned and walked toward the door Ron and Hermione had just come in through.

"Granger, Weasley." He said curtly as he past them.

Hermione acknowledged him with brief nod and Ron simply pretended he hadn't heard him. Once Draco had gone Goldman motioned toward a chair on the other side of his rather large desk, clearly inviting Hermione to sit. She slowly approached him and sat down in the chair while Ron willed his wheelchair to rest right next her.

"Now then," Goldman said in a business-like tone that had some slight stiffness in it, "You are Hermione Granger correct?"

"I am," Hermione answered, "And this is my friend Mr. Ronald Weasley."

"We've met." Ron stated with a hint of disdain in his voice, and Hermione made a mental note to asked him about that later.

"Yes, well what can I do for you?" Goldman asked.

"Well, before I tell you that," Hermione began, "Do you mind if I ask you why Draco Malfoy was just here?"

Goldman's expression faltered a bit, "Well, I'm sorry but I can't tell you that, me and Auror Malfoy have an agreement tha-"

"I- I'm sorry," Hermione interrupted, "Did you just say 'Auror Malfoy'?"

"Yes I did, Auror Malfoy is one of my finest, and you should have some respect for him seeing as he's leading the search for your fiancé."

Hermione's jaw almost dropped, she couldn't believe it, how this man could even _entertain _the idea of putting Draco Malfoy in charge of the search for Harry was beyond her.

Hermione glanced at Ron and was momentarily surprised to see that he did not look to shocked by the news. In fact, he didn't seem to have had any reaction to it at all, and this made Hermione suspicious.

"Did you know about this?" She asked him softly through her teeth.

"Well…kind of." Ron answered nervously while looking down at the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hermione hissed angrily.

"I thought it would upset you." Ron whispered back weakly, fearing the reaction he'd get from her later.

Hermione made another mental note to berate him for that once they left and once again gave Goldman her full attention.

"Yes well, as I'm sure you've already realized, I'm here in regards of the search." Hermione began again.

"Of course," Goldman answered simply, "Before you continue Ms. Granger, I would just like you too know that we are doing everything in our power to locate Mr. Potter, we have all our best Aurors searching so you have nothing to worry about."

Hermione felt a great deal of annoyance by this; it wasn't what he said that bothered her, but how he said it. He spoke to her as if he was speaking to a child, like he knew more than she did. She did her best to hide it from her expression though, not wanting to anger the head Auror before she was able to say what she came here to say.

"Well, that's what I wanted you talk to you about," Hermione answered, "You see, it's been ten days and you still haven't found anything, and I can't just keep sitting in my apartment waiting for word from you. So I would like permission to join in the search."

Hermione finished her little speech and waited for a reaction from Goldman. His mouth was slightly opened and he seemed to be trying to figure out a good response to that. Finally, he gave Hermione a small chuckle and smile that she knew was forced.

"I-I thank you for the offer Miss Granger, but um…we have so many Aurors and volunteers out looking for Mr. Potter and we don't really need anymore help, but thank you anyway I appreciate it." He explained dismissively.

Hermione's hand subconsciously balled into a fist as anger began forming inside her at his response, "Pardon me sir," She said trying to control the volume of her voice, "But I'm not entirely sure I believe that."

Goldman frowned, "What do you mean by that, Miss Granger?"

"Well, as I said before it has been ten days and you have still found nothing, so obliviously you are either doing something wrong, or you need more help." Hermione answered.

"And what makes you think you would be beneficial to this investigation?" Goldman asked, his voice rising.

"You mean besides the fact that I know Harry better than anyone alive?" Hermione retorted.

Ron shrink into his chair, feeling the tension in the room grow more and more every second. He was starting to regret not letting Hermione go alone.

"Miss Granger as I have said before we have quite a number of people working on this, we don't need any help especially from you!" Goldman shouted, losing all his professionalism in an instant.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Hermione shouted, losing her temper as well.

"I think you know exactly what that means," Goldman shouted, "Now you listen to me, I don't want to see you anywhere near that investigation or with any of the search parties, we don't need anyone like you mucking up this case you stupid mudblo-"

POW!!

Before Goldman could finish the word, Hermione had leaned forward and punched him so hard he almost fell out of his seat. Ron looked on in awe at what his friend had just done. He hadn't seen her lose her temper like that since she slapped Malfoy in third year, and even now it was still somewhat scary to see her this way.

"Come on Ron, we're leaving." Hermione said sharply to Ron before turning away from Goldman walking towards the door, Ron followed obediently, still fearing her wrath.

They were just about to walk out when they heard sputtering behind them.

"You little- I could have you arrested for this!!" Goldman hollered.

Hermione turned back around to face him, "Oh really, and what are you going to all those bigoted friends of yours, a 'mudblood' woman landed a punch on your face, and bloodied your nose?" She added when she saw a drop of blood fall from his nostril.

Hermione had never seen anyone's face turned that shade of red before other than Harry's Uncle Vernon; she didn't stand around and linger on that though, she turned around and finally left the room closing the door behind her and Ron. As they headed down the hall again, Ron looked up at her.

"You're very scary sometimes." He said nervously.

Despite the situation, Hermione couldn't help but smile a little.

* * *

Harry had lost track of the days. In fact, had it not been for the small window shining light into the room during daylight hours, he wouldn't have been able to tell if it was day or night either. His room (Or cage) did not have a clock or a calendar in it, or anything for that matter other than the bed he lay in and the cabinet which housed the dreaded Novriltus potion. He had not been given another dose just yet, so it probably hadn't been longer than to weeks that he'd been there.

Ginny continued to come in three times a day to bring him meals, but she had also taken to coming in at random times simply to 'check on him'. She also continued telling him stories of their times at Hogwarts, but he had begun noticing something that disturbed him greatly, it had started when she began talking about their third year, atime when Harry did not recall having held an actual conversation with her or even really seen her anywhere except in the great hall at mealtimes. Yet she spoke of them trying to help Hagrid get Buckbeak acquitted, or how they went back in time together and saved Sirius from the Dementor's kiss, all the things he had done with Hermione, not Ginny. IT was as if she was trying to replace Hermione in Harry's mind.

Hermione. She was the only thing that kept him going, he thought about her all the time, going over every memory of her (Last year she had messed up a cooking charm and accidentally set the food on fire), every time she saved his life (She taught me the Accio charm, she figured out what the monster in the chamber of secrets was), every little thing that made her Hermione, (She likes French films, she's allergic to peanuts, her favorite time of year is early spring.) It wasn't just his memories of her he focused on either, he had created several fantasies about her and the lives they could- would share, he must have gone over that wedding fantasy a thousand times, and he now had new ones as well. He imagined their first child, a girl. She had Hermione's hair and Harry's eyes, her grandmother's eyes. Her name was Chloe; Hermione always liked that name, Chloe Elizabeth Potter.

Their next child was a boy, the opposite of Chloe in looks; he had Harry's hair and Hermione's eyes, and a spitting image of his grandfather. His name is David, Hermione's favorite boy's name. He sees them growing up, he sees himself and Hermione putting Chloe onto the train for the first time. He sees her being sorted. She is clever like her mother, the smartest witch of her age; the hat puts her in Ravenclaw. Then it's David's turn. He is adventurous, he dreams of being an Auror like his father; the hat puts him in Gryffindor.

They grow up too fast, now Chloe has graduated, with an engagement ring on her finger. He gives her away at her wedding and then goes to sit with Hermione; he takes her hand in his and comforts her as she sheds tears of happiness.

David's turn to graduate, he has become a fine young man ready to follow in his fathers footsteps. They grow up, they get married, they have children of their own, and through it all Harry and Hermione are together. They grow old; they hold their grandchildren for the first time. They look down from above together at the family they created as they grow and live their lives.

This is what keeps him going for so long, even when it seems all hope is lost. He still has the hope that Hermione will find him, if he knew her and he did, she would never give up searching not until she found him, or his body.

He was not the only one who had thought of that.

* * *

She would destroy everything, but Harry didn't know that yet. The hope that Hermione would find him, the hope that had kept him from completely submerging himself in his fantasies, would be taken from him in one foul swoop.

He probably should have known that something was wrong when Ginny came in on what he believe to be around the twelfth day of his entrapment when and odd bulge in her jacket pocket and a big grin on her face. She stood in front of him for a minute just staring at him, making him very nervous. The she did something he never would have expected; she ran up to him, picked him up and crushed him into her chest hugging him very tightly. He gasped for air but she didn't let go for about ten seconds. Finally she loosened her grip on him and gently laid him back down as if he were a porcelain doll.

"Ginny," Harry began weakly, "Is everything okay?"

"Oh it's better than okay Darling," Ginny cried happily doing a weird little spin with her arms raised, "today we are going to finally take the next big step."

Harry didn't like the sound of that, "Next big step?" he repeated.

"That's right," Ginny answered, "Those search parties looking for you are going to stop looking tonight."

That wasn't what he expected and he wasn't sure if he should take that as good news or bad news. She could mean that she had seen the error of her ways and was planning on freeing him, but he highly doubted that.

"And then," She continued, "It will only be five more days before we finally make our love official, and leave this place forever."

He could only wonder where she was planning on taking him but it was probably somewhere even further away from Hermione.

His mind drifted back to her for a moment, until Ginny pulled him out of his stupor. "I just need you to relax." He heard her say.

"Wha-"He turned his attention back to her and his eyes widened and his stomach dropped. He now saw that the bulge in her jacket pocket he had noticed earlier was a rather long and shiny knife. Ginny was gripping it very tightly never once losing her smile, which made her look very insane indeed.

"G-Ginny," Harry said, "What are you doing?"

She put her free hand to her lips, "Shhh," She said, "just relax."

She began to approach him again. Harry would have back up had he been able to move, but all he could do was lay there in fear.

"Ginny-" He began trying to think of something, anything he could say to stop her from doing whatever she was thinking about doing, but she only shushed him again as she raised the knife above his head.

"Calm down darling, this will only take a second."

* * *

Goldman had been the head of the Auror department for fifteen years, ever since his old friend Cornelius Fudge became minister. He had seen a lot in those fifteen years, but never in all that time had he met a woman as infuriating as Hermione Granger, how dare that stupid mudblood attack him like that. He had spent next hour after she and her friend left nursing his bloody nose, luckily she hadn't broken it, but it had taken him awhile to stop the bleeding, he had almost become dizzy.

Of course only Potter would pick up someone like her, he was ten times worse than her. The stupid little lying brat was taking up all his time lately. He had every Auror in the department searching for him when he had probably just found some nice pure blood woman and taken off.

The next day around noontime he was about to go on his lunch break when one of his top Auror's burst through the door panting and sweating profusely.

"What's all this Bates?" Goldman snapped.

"A-Auror G-Goldman", Auror Bates gasped, "A-Auror Malfoy sent me t-to get you, y-you have to c-come with me."

"Why, what's so important?" Goldman asked uninterested, the answer he got was the last thing he ever expected and made him almost choke on his own spit.

"We found him."

* * *

Hermione did not get much sleep that night, she was too angry about her ill-fated meeting with that bastard Goldman. Harry had told her that the man was an arse and now she could see why.

She was making her lunch when she heard a roatr come from her fireplace and then a human voice call out a greeting. Hermione walked over to the fireplace and saw the head of a thirty-something man sitting in the flames.

"Can I help you?" Hermione asked.

"Ms. Granger, my name is Auror Bates; we need you to come down to the Ministry immediately." Bates explained.

Hermione's heart suddenly began to race, "What? What is it? Did you find him?"

"Ms. Granger, please, I'd rather tell you this in person."

Hermione's heart wrenched, that didn't sound good, "Please tell me now."

"Ms. Granger-" Auror Bates began but Hermione cut him of angrily.

"Just tell me." She snapped, startling the head.

Auror Bates looked nervous for a moment, it was easy to see he really didn't want to tell her this, but he knew that he had no choice now.

"Well Ms. Granger, " He began, "This is going to be hard for you to hear but…"

"But what?" Hermione asked desperately.

Bates sighed, "We…we've found Mr. Potter's body and we need you to come down and make an identification."

* * *

**A/N: Please don't kill me.**


	8. Chapter 7

Hermione Granger was numb, completely numb. To an outside party she might seem like she was sleepwalking, or else a zombie. She walked the halls the Ministry of Magic, Auror Bates at her side with a somewhat comforting hand on her arm as he half-lead her to the room were they were keeping Harry's body.

'_This wasn't supposed to happen.'_ Hermione thought to herself for the hundredth time that day. She didn't know what else to think. Her arms hung limp at her sides and she was walking very slowly, something that made Auror Bates a bit annoyed, but he didn't say anything.

Harry Potter's body was being kept in a locked down room in the bowels of the Ministry, far from the eyes of workers, civilians, and especially reporters. Harry's death hadn't even been made public knowledge yet; the only ones who knew now were Aurors Goldman, Bates, and Malfoy, Malfoy team, and Hermione. Not even the other search parties had been told yet.

They eventually made it to the elevators and silently rode it down to the very bottom floor. Once they had made it to their stop and the elevator doors slowly opened, Hermione felt herself growing faint.

'_This wasn't supposed to happen.' _

Her steps became much softer and Auror Bates grip on her arm became somewhat tighter, as if he were later she would fall to the ground if he let up. The room was rather large and currently housed only Auror Goldman, Malfoy, and several members of Malfoy's team. All of whom immediately stopped what they were doing and fell silent when Hermione entered.

Auror Goldman approached them first. Despite his hatred of muggle-borns and Harry Potter, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him and Granger. He quietly thanked Bates for escorting Hermione and excused him.

"Ms. Granger," He addressed Hermione, "If you'll just follow me."

Hermione nodded, not speaking once. Auror Goldman turned and walked slowly toward a door on the other side of the room, Hermione following. As she walked, Hermione found herself quickly glancing around various spots of the room. Most of the other Aurors were watching her with sad expressions; Malfoy looked deep in thought and was too busy staring at nothing to notice Hermione when she looked at him.

'_This wasn't supposed to happen.'_

When they reached the door to the conjoined room housing the body of her fiancé, Hermione almost turned and ran. She hated that she was feeling so weak, it was like he whole world had come crashing down around her, and really it had. Harry was dead, what was left for her now?

Goldman opened the door and Hermione entered the brightly lit room. It looked a lot like the hospital morgues she sometimes saw in movies and TV shows, and in the middle of the room, a gurney with a white sheet covering the top of it; the outline of a person was visible.

Hermione slowly walked over to the body with Goldman beside her. She waited a moment while Goldman reached forward to grasp the white sheet. He paused before pulling it down to give Hermione time to prepare for what she was about to see. Then he pulled the sheet enough to expose the head.

A choked sob emitted from Hermione as her eyes beheld the pasty white face of her beloved. His glasses missing, his bright green eyes glazed over. His lightning bolt scar easily recognizable on his forehead, there was no denying that it was Harry.

Hermione brought her hands up to her face and silently cried. _'This wasn't suppose to happen.'_

Goldman decided that it was time to go. "Ms. Granger, I think we should leave now."

"No." Hermione stated, taking Goldman by surprise.

"E-excuse me?"

"I want to have a few minutes alone with him." Hermione answered in a somewhat demanding tone.

Goldman did not like the way she was speaking to him, but he was not in the mood to start an argument, so he simply nodded and exited the room. Hermione kneeled down in front of the body and, reaching out slowly, took Harry's cold hand in hers. She wiped the tears from her eyes using her free hand. After a minute of silent thinking, Hermione released the hand which fell limply to the side of the gurney, and she had her first real thought since she had gotten the news of Harry's death.

'_Something's not right here.'

* * *

_

Ginny stared silently out the window. It was raining again, but only a slight drizzle. It didn't matter in the slightest to her though. There could have been a huge flood and Ginny would not have cared less. Everything had gone so perfectly, it was almost too good to be true, and soon it would all be over and she could be with Harry forever with no one to try and destroy their love.

"It's funny," Ginny said aloud to no one but herself, "part of me didn't think this would work."

"Is that so?"

Ginny turned to face the man in the bed, whom until now she believed had been asleep. Harry's eyes were hard and emotionless, as was his expression. Ginny regarded him for a moment before turning back around staring out the glass window at the falling rain.

"I'm not really sure why. I suppose I thought they wouldn't fall for it, that they would care more about their savior then that." Ginny answered.

Harry couldn't help silently agree, even though he wasn't really sure how Ginny could know her plan had been a success, though he suppose since she had already thought of everything else, she had probably thought to keep tabs on the search parties, especially now.

"But even if they did it's ridiculous to assume that they wouldn't believe the body was real," Ginny continued, "I mean my plan was, is foolproof. The spell, it's one of the most perfect yet underrated spells I've ever seen, all you really need are a bunch of random objects and some fancy wand work."

"So what was the hair for?" Harry asked in monotone.

"Hair?" Ginny repeated sounding confused.

"Yes Ginny," Harry answered sounding slightly annoyed at having to elaborate, "You took a knife and sliced a lock of my hair off with it, what was it for?"

Ginny turned back to face Harry and smiled slightly, "I needed it to look like you, otherwise it would have just look like some random blob of a person, and if you remember the goal was to get the search for you called off."

"So you gave them my body." Harry stated finishing Ginny thought.

Ginny smiled again at her captive.

"Precisely."

* * *

"This isn't right." Hermione repeated to herself for the umpteenth time.

She was at the moment leaning up against the wall with her wand clutched softly in her hand. In the last half hour or so since Goldman had left her Hermione had used every spell she knew to try and determine that this truly was Harry. They had all come back the same: this is was a dead body.

'But is it really Harry's?' She thought, this was the question she still could not answer, and even though it frightened her, it gave her hope that Harry was still alive somewhere despite the way things seemed.

It didn't really matter now; the search parties were being called off one by one that very moment. If Harry really was still alive, his only hope was Hermione. Hermione slid to the ground and put her legs between her head as tears of anger, frustration and sadness began to fall from her eyes. She was so caught up in her whirlwind of emotion that it wasn't until she heard a haughty voice sound that she realized she was no longer alone in the room.

"Get up Granger, you're just embarrassing yourself."

Hermione looked up quickly and her angry feeling began to magnify.

"Get out of here Malfoy," She snapped, "Leave me alone."

"Why?" Malfoy, "So you can continue your pathetic little tear fe-

"HOW DARE YOU!" Hermione shouted standing up, "In case you haven't noticed, my fiancé is lying dead next to you, I think I have a right to grieve if I want to you insensitive git!"

"Calm down Granger," Malfoy said holding up his hands in surrender, something which greatly surprised Hermione who had been expected a 'Mudblood' comment, "I'm not trying to offend you or Potter, I'm just saying that you shouldn't be crying yet."

"And why not?" Hermione shot back.

"Because," Malfoy began, he paused for a moment before continuing, with a hint of disdain in his voice, "The smartest witch of our age should be able to realize that this isn't really Potter."

Hermione's wand dropped out of her hand with a rather loud clatter and her jaw almost dropped, how could Draco have picked up on that?

"Wh-what? How could you possibly know that?" Hermione questioned.

"I'm smarter than the average idiot," Malfoy answered, "besides, we found him in the middle of a field, he was covered in dirt and his shirt was torn open, but he didn't have a scratch on him, and other than his shirt, his clothes seemed a bit too neat. Then there was his eyes…"

"What about his eyes?" Hermione asked, listening intently for his answer.

"Well they were glazed like a dead person's eyes should be," Malfoy explained, "but the pupils weren't right. You see when a person dies, their pupils dilate, and if you look at his eyes…"

Malfoy paused there and reached out to grasp the corpse's head and then motioned for Hermione to bend down and look. Hermione remained still for a moment, unsure if she should do it but finally obeyed him.

"You noticed that the pupils are still contracted, that shouldn't be." Malfoy finished.

Hermione could see that he was right, so she stood back up straight and asked, "Why didn't you tell Goldman?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes, "You think he would have cared? He hates Potter, he may have seemed all remorseful before but that was just for appearance sake. Trust me Granger, as we speak Goldman is in his office celebrating, he hates Potter too much to listen to anything that might contradict his death."

Hermione mulled over this for a moment and quickly realized that Malfoy was right. "Okay, but how does his eyes prove that this isn't Harry?"

"Well it doesn't," Malfoy admitted, "but when I noticed that, I thought it over for a while and I came up with two theories. One, he is Potter, but he isn't really dead and that clearly is not the case."

Malfoy shot a quick glance at the pale, unmoving corpse.

"My second theory and the one I believe to be true," Draco paused as if for dramatic effect and Hermione silently urged him to continue, "Is that not only is this not Potter's body, it's not a body at all."

Now Hermione was confused, which for her was rare, "What? That- But- Then what is it?"

Malfoy smirked slightly, "That's what I came to find out, I have an idea of what this is, I just need to confirm it."

With that, Malfoy drew a small knife from his robes and took the corpse's hand in his. Hermione started to become a bit nervous when she saw him draw the knife.

"Malfoy," She slowly began, "what are you doing?"

"You'll see in a minute." He answered curtly and then with one swift motion, brought the knife down and sliced off Harry's thumb.

Hermione put her hands to her mouth in an effort to stifle her screams of shock. The severed thumb fell to the floor. Hermione could feel the bile rising up in her throat but managed to keep it down. Malfoy saw her reaction to what he had just done and rolled his eyes.

"Suck it up Granger!" He ordered sharply, "Look at it."

Malfoy motioned towards the appendage and Hermione slowly but reluctantly followed his gaze. For a moment the thumb just lay there, but then, to Hermione's shock and Malfoy's lack of surprise, the thumb began to turn from a pasty white to a dark grey color and then suddenly broke apart into little pieces. Hermione didn't move for a moment, but her natural curiosity eventually got the best of her and she found herself kneeling down to examine the pieces. She picked one up and quietly observed it for a moment before realizing.

"Pebbles?"

Malfoy nodded, "Exactly, it's just as I expected, this not the body off Harry Potter, this is a golem."

"Of course," Hermione whispered, realizing that Malfoy was right, "A golem is made out of a group of the same substance, clay, wood, or rocks."

"And you use a spell to make it resemble a human being," Malfoy continued for her, "all you need is some DNA to make it look like the specific person you want."

"So what you're saying," Hermione said, "Is that whoever took Harry made this fake body to throw everyone off."

"That's right, which means they are pretty smart, luckily I'm smarter." Draco mused arrogantly.

"But this also means that Harry is still alive." Hermione stated, joy filling her for the first time in months.

"Yes I suppose it does," Malfoy conceded, not trying to mask his displeasure in the knowledge that his long-time enemy still lived, "But don't start celebrating just yet Granger, we still have to find the real Potter."

"How?" Hermione wondered aloud, her joyful feeling leaving her, "The search parties have been called off now that they think Harry is dead."

"That may be so," Draco responded, "But all that means is it's up to us now to find him, as long as you don't have a problem working with me on this?"

Hermione regarded him for a moment with uncertainty, "I suppose not since you're the only one who seems to care now, my only question is why."

"Why what?"

"Why do you care," Hermione elaborated, "You've never made your hatred for Harry or me for that matter secret, so why do you all of a sudden care if Harry lives or dies?"

Draco had been dreading this question, Hermione could tell because of the look on his face, he seemed almost too embarrassed to answer, but he did, he knew that he had to.

"Look Granger, back at the battle at Hogwarts, you and Potter saved my life, so I pretty much owe you. I still hate you and Potter, but I'm unfortunately in debt to you, and this is my way of paying it off, after that I'll be free to hate you both in peace."

Hermione was a bit surprised by his response, but she suppose that a life debt was the only reason Draco Malfoy would willingly help Harry Potter and so she accepted that answer.

"Okay then," Hermione conceded, "I guess we're together on this then."

Malfoy shrugged, "We've got no other choice, Goldman and the other Auror's won't listen to me and Weasley's pretty much useless in that chair of his."

Hermione would normally have thrown down in defense of her friend, but now wasn't the time for that, Hermione was not about to anger the only person who could and would help now, even though it _was_ Draco Malfoy.

"Well we'd better go now," Draco said as he headed for the door, "We have a lot of work to do."

As he left, Hermione lingered for a moment and stared at the false body of her love. She prayed that the real Harry was still alive somewhere and would still be when she found him. After a moment, Hermione turned on a heel and followed Malfoy out, closing the door behind her.

* * *

**A/N: Just so everyone knows, I made up that part about needing a person's DNA to make a golem version of them, so that's probably not true, but for this story, it is. **


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry about the wait.**

Harry felt like his heart was about to burst. His wife Hermione lay panting and sweating in the hospital bed and a faint crying could be heard a few feet away. Harry gripped Hermione's hand and brushed the hair off her face as she looked up at him grinning.

"We did it." She whispered.

Harry kissed the top of her hair, "You did great love, I can't believe it really happened.

"I know, we're parents now, it's kind of scary." Hermione answered.

Harry chuckled, "Well we've made it through a war, and I think we can survive this."

"I love you Harry."

"I love you too Hermione."

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter," said the nurse walking over, "Would you like to see your baby now?"

Harry looked back at his wife, who silently nodded. The nurse was then handed a blanketed bundle to the nurse who slowly carried it over too the parents. She handed her to Hermione first, who beamed at the sight of their first child.

"It's a girl." The nurse told them.

Hermione gently handed her off to her husband.

"You've got to see her Harry, she's so beautiful."

Harry tried to keep his arms from shaking as he took the baby in his arms. With tears in his eyes, Harry pulled away part of the sheet so he could see his child's face.

And the world fell down.

Harry screamed. Ginny's face laughed at him from inside the blankets. Ginny grinned at him in the bed. Ginny was the face of the doctors and the nurses. Her laugh rang in his ears and he became dizzy.

"I love you Harry darling," they were all now saying; "I will love you forever."

Harry woke then, drenched in sweat with the tears still fresh in his eyes.

* * *

'Five Minutes'

The room didn't have a clock, so Harry had begun watching out the window for where the sun was when Ginny came in, and after several days of this was almost always able to correctly guess when she would be coming in. It was now probably around noon, which meant she would be bringing him his lunch soon. Harry was becoming increasingly nervous as the days past; because ever since Ginny planted the fake body, every time she left the room she would smile and say,

"Only five more days Harry." Or "Only three more days Harry."

It was now only two more days; two more days until what? He knew he didn't want to know. It was these times of day when Harry resolve to leave grew even stronger, if it weren't for this damned potion…

He remembered then that it had been a week and his heart sunk, today she would give him one more dose of that Novriltus potion, he had to get out.

When he wasn't worrying about that, he was thinking about the dream he had last night. He was starting to think he was going crazy, he dreamed of Hermione almost all the time, but they had been good dreams. Last night was one of the most horrifying things he had ever seen, and it hadn't real been real. Ginny was everywhere, she was probably watching him now. His eyes darted across the room, she had a gun, who wasn't to say she didn't have video cameras in there and she'd been watching him this whole time?

'Get a hold of yourself Potter,' the little voice in his head yelled, 'you can't move, what would be the point of her watching you?'

'Why not?' he answered, 'she does it every time she brings me food. '

The large amount of thoughts swimming through his head was starting to give Harry a headache, and he would have given anything to be able to rub his temples. He looked out the window and saw, to his surprise that the sun had changed positions. Ginny should have been there by now. As if his headache wasn't bad enough already, even more thoughts started forming in his mind. What if she's left? What if she hurt herself and is unconscious somewhere, what if…?

It was then that Harry realized, if she was late coming in, that meant she was late giving him the potion. Harry's heart soared with hope and his eyes fell on his right arm. Closing his eyes and bracing himself for whatever would come next, his tried to lift his arm, and…it moved. He opened his eyes and looked at his arm. He curled his fingers and then uncurled them, dropped his arm slowly and then raised it again. Trying his other arm, he found that it could also move now, the potion was wearing off!

Unfortunately, his legs were still immobile, but that was okay, they would be soon enough, just as long as she didn't come in any time soon. Harry knew that this was his chance, and he couldn't wait any longer. He lifted himself up and managed to roll over to the side of the bed. Reaching down he leaned on the hard wooden floor and tried to hoist his body off the bed and onto the floor. He moved as slowly as he possibly could, but no matter how slowly he moved, he could not stop his paralyzed legs from falling and land hard on the floor making a loud thud.

"Fuck!" He hissed loudly.

His heart stopped when he realized how much noise he had just made. He sat perfectly still listening for the sounds of footsteps or for a voice, but he heard nothing. After about ten minutes, Harry felt safe enough to try and move, and this time his right leg was mobile again. He shakily got to his feet and hobbled slowly to the door. Grasping the door handle in his sweaty palm, he turned it cautiously and was slightly surprised to find it unlocked. She probably didn't see any need to since he couldn't move before. Not wanting to dwell on that, Harry stepped softly out of the room and for the first time since he first was captured, he got to see the rest of his cage. The wallpaper was pale yellow and was so old that it was peeling off. Other than that the walls were completely barren save for a few photos of him and Ginny. Harry forced himself to ignore their smiling faces and limped down the hall. As he passed the door next to his he casually glanced into the room and stopped dead in his tracks. There, sleeping on a rather large bed was Ginny.

Harry somehow made it to the other side of the door without realizing it, and he peeked in at the young woman. In her sleep, Ginny had this almost innocent quality about her, one that would almost make it hard to believe that she was insane. She snored softly and turned over in her sleep. As he watched her, Harry was struck with a thought, she was completely vulnerable right now, and he may have been weak from the potion, but he could still probably overpower her as long as she wasn't armed. On the nightstand next to her lay the pistol she had shown him several nights ago, how easy it would have been to just walk in there, grab the weapon and…end it, end it all.

But somewhere in his gut, Harry knew that even if he did have that gun, he wouldn't do it, he couldn't. Ginny had been his friend once, his love once, he would never have had it in him to kill her. When this was all over, she'd go to Azkaban, or possibly the mental ward at St. Mungo's. She would stay there forever and hopefully get the help she needed. Harry drew his eyes away from her and crept down the hall searching for a door or a window big enough for him to fit through. Along the way he came to a large space in the wall which led into the living room. This room was also mostly empty, the couch and recliner sat on either side of the wall, and in the middle was a small coffee table. Other than that there was nothing, not a single picture on the wall or anything. When he examined the coffee table, he realized that there was a rather large book on top and his curiosity got the best of him. He walked over as slow as possible and picked it up, it was a scrapbook. Harry sat down in the recliner which made a squeaking noise, Harry stopped moving and waited to hear Ginny waking up, but she never did. Finally, Harry felt safe enough to sit down all the way and open the book.

The first few pages were just newspaper clippings from the days after he first defeated Voldemort as a baby. Turning the pages he found several photos of him at Hogwarts. As he looked, Harry noticed something rather odd. The photos were wizard photos, and yet none of them moved, he then realized that many of them had been torn at and the pieces left were the pictures of Harry, or on rare occasions Harry and Ron, but Hermione's picture was always torn away. He almost felt sick when he got further in and found a picture that wasn't torn and simply had Hermione's face scribbled out with heavy black ink, and in some, Ginny had taped her picture over Hermione's. In one photo like this, Hermione's image kept trying in vain to move back into view, but to no avail.

Harry would have stopped then when he saw on the other side of the page another photo with Hermione's face drawn out, only this one was a newspaper clipping, the one that went out around six months ago announcing Harry and Hermione's engagement.

**HARRY POTTER TO WED HERMIONE GRANGER**

The article read, and went on to talk a little about how he and Hermione met, became friends, and how he proposed. Harry traced his fingers over where Hermione's face used to be and closed his eyes. In his mind's eye he could see her, wearing all black and crying, standing over a long wooden box. Harry's eyes snapped open and he tried to shake the thought from his mind. Absentmindedly, Harry turned the page and found that it was the last page Ginny had filled. A lone newspaper clipping had been glued in and Harry could feel his heart sink as far as it could go when he read the headline.

**SEARCH FOR HARRY POTTER CALLED OFF; BODY FOUND!!  
**  
_The body of Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and savoir of the Wizarding World was found last Monday by high-ranking Auror Draco Malfoy and his team. As of yet the cause of death is not known but an Auror spokesman confirmed that there is belief of foul play. Mr. Potter's fiancée Ms. Hermione Granger was unavailable for comment._

Harry put the book down and sat back, trying to imagine what was going on out there. Had they already buried his 'body'? There had to be an autopsy right? Then they would see that it wasn't him; the body couldn't possibly be that real looking could it?

He looked up at the wall and was somewhat surprised to see a clock on the wall, it was now a quarter to one. Harry stood up and walked out of the parlor area. He looked down both ends of the hall and his heart swelled when he saw a door down one end. He headed to the door and didn't take into account that he was moving quickly with large steps until it was too late. He was halfway there and he hadn't noticed the footsteps.

"Harry?"

He whirled around and there she was, Ginny stood rigidly in the hallway wearing a long nightdress and looking a mixture of confusion, fear, and anger. Harry didn't wait for her to say anything else, he turned again and darted to the door, Ginny screaming at him in his wake, but she didn't follow him, Harry didn't have time to wonder why though, he was almost there and soon he would be free. He made a grab for the door knob and his heart almost exploded from the promise of freedom. His hand was almost on it when he felt some sort of barrier over it and was violently thrown back so far he hit the other side of the wall and slumped almost lifelessly to the floor. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a head of red hair leaning over him.

* * *

When Harry woke again his back hurt, from the force of the wall no doubt. But that didn't concern Harry at the moment; all he cared about was that his escape attempts had failed. He should have known that she'd put wards up. In the last two weeks or so she had more than proved that she was crazy, but not stupid. If she didn't lock his door, surely she would make sure he couldn't out of the actual house. Harry silently cursed his stupidity and didn't even try to move into a more comfortable position (this one was killing his back), he knew that she had given him the potion again while he was out, and he didn't even have to open his eyes to know that Ginny hadn't left. When he finally did, there she was, but she wasn't smiling, in fact her face was completely expressionless.

"Good Morning." She said somewhat stiffly.

"Good Morning," Harry answered softly, and put on a fake smile, "How are you?"

"Not good Harry, not good," she answered, "and don't that cheerful thing on me, you think I don't now why you tried to leave yesterday?"

Harry searched for an answer, his fear of what she would do or had already done growing every second. "I-I was just-"

"You were just trying to leave," Ginny cried, raising her voice to him for the first time since she kidnapped him, "You were trying to leave so you could go back to your precious Hermione."

The way she said Hermione's name was like the way one would say the most dreadful swear word.

"Ginny, I don't want to-"

"You don't want to leave? You like it here? Is that what you're trying to say? Don't give me that. Next you're probably going to say that you were only leaving to go to the stationary store and buy me some chocolates and a nice fucking greeting card is that right?" Ginny ranted, this curse word slipping out of her mouth like it was natural.

"Ginny I-"

"You listen to me Mr. Potter, you will not talk to me like that, like I'm stupid, if you try anything like that ever again then so help me I'll-"

She stopped, her eyes widened slightly and she seemed to come to her senses, or at least to as much sense as she could. She looked at Harry again this time with no anger and much regret.

"Oh Harry I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you like that, it's the thought of you leaving again, it made me crazy. I'm so sorry." She said grabbing his hand.

'That made you crazy?' Harry thought to himself in disbelief.

"Listen Harry, I'll make it up to you, I'm gonna go make your dinner and I'm going to make all your favorites okay?" Ginny asked.

She didn't wait for an answer. She turned and ran quickly from the room shutting the door behind her. Harry stared at the door aimlessly for a minute, his brain trying to piece together what has just happened. All that did was bring on yet another headache, so Harry moved his gaze to the ceiling and closed his eyes.

"Crazy bitch."

* * *


	10. Chapter 9

Hermione was eighteen when she had her first cup of coffee, and by twenty she had sworn off it forever. In grammar school she and her classmates had been told countless times to stay away from drugs and alcohol, but they never once said anything about caffeine. For five years she had stood by that vow, only for it to finally be broken the night after she agreed to let Draco Malfoy help her find Harry. She was already on her fourth cup when Malfoy turned the lights on in his study to give them some more light. She took a large drink from her cup and went back to reading. She must have gone over the case files Draco provided a million times, and still she knew something was missing, something important.

Draco had noticed Hermione's rather heavy caffeine intake and even though he wouldn't admit it, he was getting a little worried about her.

"Uh…Granger? Hermione?" he asked cautiously, trying to get her attention.

She slammed the paper onto the table a bit harder than she intended, causing Draco to jump. Hermione noticed that her hands were shaking a bit but didn't really care.

"What is it, have you figured something out?" She asked hurriedly.

"Yes actually," Draco answered, "Through careful observation I've deduced that you've had way too much coffee."

Hermione's eyes, before wide with anticipation now narrowed, "This is not the time for stupid jokes Draco, we have work to do, every second we waste could be a second closer to Harry being killed and-"

"Okay, you've definitely had enough." Draco muttered loudly, interrupting her.

He made to grab the coffee cup away from her but she pulled it away and took another drink from it.

"And don't worry so much about Potter, I don't think his life is in danger just yet." Draco told her, not bothering to hide his annoyance at her behavior.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione almost yelled.

Draco raised an eyebrow and answered after a beat, "Well first of all, I think that caffeine is messing with your head."

"Draco!"

"Let me finish!" Draco snapped back at her, "As I was saying, the fact that the body was a golem and not really Potter is a vital clue."

"How so?" Hermione asked.

"Well think of it this way, whoever did this must have taken a lot of time to plan. Golem making is extremely difficult, so they must have spent some of that time studying, meaning they obviously have had this all planned out for a while. But the fact that they left a Golem body tells a lot about them." Draco explained.

The effects of the caffeine seemed to wear off and Hermione's brain unclouded. She processed all this information and after a minute in deep thought, came up with something.

"Yes, it means that Harry is probably still alive, and they used the decoy body to call off the search. They don't want Harry found." Hermione thought aloud.

"But they do want him alive," Draco finished her thought, "for now at least."

"Then that means it can't be the Death Eaters, unless they wanted to torture him and make him die slowly." Hermione said.

"But then they would have waited until he was dead and given us the real body." Draco muttered sounding a bit bitter and while touching his forearm lightly, "In fact knowing them, they would probably have left the body on your doorstep."

Hermione shivered at the thought and nodded in agreement, "So I guess that strikes them off the list of suspects."

"Right," Draco answered, "If I had to guess, whoever we're dealing with here isn't after Potter's blood. This is either a crime of passion or of profit."

"I doubt the latter." Hermione stated.

Draco raised an eyebrow again, "What makes you say that?"

"Because," Hermione began, "If they wanted him for money why would they want people to think Harry's dead? It would make sense that they would need him alive to get the money, but then what? They can't very well send him back or kill him for real if the world thinks he's dead. And besides, Gringotts would inform me if any major transactions were made from Harry's account because Harry gave me rights to access it."

Draco pursed his lips. "I see, so then let's say it's a crime of passion. Did Potter have any stalkers or ex-girlfriends who never moved on?"

Hermione thought for a moment, "No." she finally answered.

Draco sighed with annoyance, "Well then tell about all of his previous relationships before you."

Hermione didn't really like his tone but chose to ignore it. She racked her brain for the requested information.

"Well," she began, "In his fourth and fifth year, Harry had a crush on this Ravenclaw girl Cho Chang, they had a date but nothing really came of it. I doubt it was her though, last I heard, she was living in Ireland and was just married."

Draco nodded, "Okay, who else?"

"Well…oh, he took Parvati Patil to the Yule Ball in fourth year." Hermione told him.

Draco snorted, "Parvati Patil? Please, that woman's head is emptier than a flowerpot, she could never pull something like this off, anyone else?"

Hermione would have under normal circumstances thrown down in defense of a fellow former Gryffindor, but thinking back, she had to admit he was right.

"The only other person he actually dated was…well, Ginny Weasely and…you know." Hermione's heart sank when she thought of her deceased friend.

She often wondered what it would have been like if Ginny was still alive. Hermione remembered Harry telling her how she reacted to the break-up. At first she had been shocked, but after thinking about it, she realized that Ginny was probably just having a hard time getting over her idea of Harry being a hero. What she didn't realize was that Harry was regular person under all that press. But Ginny had been smart, she would have realized it eventually, and then maybe she could have moved on from Harry and found someone new, and hopefully the two of them could have become friends again. As for Hermione, Ginny was the best girl friend she'd ever had, and she knew that if she were still alive, Ginny would be right next to her through all this strife, comforting her and helping her find him.

Draco didn't say anything but didn't act like he didn't care. After a long silence, Draco coughed to get Hermione's attention.

"So is that it?" He asked.

"I think so," Hermione answered before being struck by another thought, "Oh wait no, in sixth year, this younger Gryffindor girl um…Romilda Vane! Yes, she had this huge fancy for Harry, she even tried dosing him with love potion once, Ron ended up taking it though by mistake."

"Romilda Vane?" Draco repeated, for some reason with a smirk.

Hermione furrowed her brow, "Yes, why do you look so amused?"

Draco chuckled, "Well I'll tell you this Granger, I may not know her as well as some of my friends do, but I doubt she would have the brainpower for this."

"What do you mean 'know her'?" Hermione questioned, even though she already had an idea of what his answer would be.

"I mean exactly what you think I mean." Draco said, his smirk growing.

Hermione rolled her eyes. She was about to tell Draco that they should get back to work, when a ringing sound from her purse distracted her. Draco watched with confusion as Hermione drew her cell phone from the bag and brought it to her ear.

"Hermione?" said the familiar voice on the other end.

Hermione's insides froze. She had hoped that Ron would not call her so soon. If he found out that she was working with Draco Malfoy, even though he was virtually the only one who could help her, he would go absolutely mad.

"Hi Ron." Hermione answered, trying hard to hide her nervousness. Nearby, Draco rolled his eyes at the sound of his old enemy's name.

"What's going on Hermione, we went to your flat but you weren't there, where are you?" Ron asked.

Hermione closed her eyes and tried to think of a suitable lie. What could she say? He'd already been to her flat so that wouldn't work. The park? No, he would have looked there. The pub? No, he wouldn't believe that because Hermione didn't drink. She had to think of something fast!

Whether it was lucky or unlucky for Hermione that Draco chose that moment to speak up is debatable, but nonetheless, when Hermione took too long to answer her friend, Draco saw fit to speak up.

"Will you just talk to Weasel already?" He said loudly

Hermione could almost hear her friend tense. She knew he heard that. Draco spoke far too loud for him not to.

"Hermione," Ron started slowly, "Tell me that wasn't the ferret I just heard."

"Ron," Hermione stopped for a moment before attempting to start again, "Ron I-"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MALFOY?!" Ron yelled so loud Hermione had to rip the phone away from her ear.

"Ron calm down!" Hermione could hear Luna's voice from the other end.

"Listen to me Ron," Hermione said once she was sure Ron was calm, "I know you don't like him but he's helping me find Harry and-"

"Helping you find Harry? Hermione, Harry's dead, they found his body remember? You gave the positive I.D. yourself!" Ron ranted.

Hermione was starting to become angry, but she hid it from her voice, "I know I did Ron but I thought it was him then. It wasn't."

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked incredulously.

"It was a golem Ron," Hermione said, "A fake body made of inanimate matter like clay or wood, or in this case rocks. Whoever took Harry planted a fake body to throw us all off, but me and Draco-"

"Oh you're on a first name basis with him now huh? That's great Hermione, just great!"

Hermione was not one to be provoked into arguments, but this was too much.

"Have you been listening to a word I've said Ronald? Harry's not dead, the body was a decoy, he's still alive out there somewhere." She said loudly.

"Hermione, are you hearing yourself? Do you realize how that sounds?" Ron snapped.

"Why are you having such a hard time believing it, it's magic Ron. Very difficult magic but magic nonetheless." She yelled at him.

"Hermione there is no spell to bring people back from the dead, you know that." Ron said reasonably.

"What part of 'Harry Is Not Dead.' don't you understand?" Hermione shouted back, "The body is a fake, it's not really Harry!"

"Look Hermione," Ron said not seeming to have heard her, "I don't know what the hell is going on in your head right now but this is just ridiculous!"

"Ridiculous?!" Hermione repeated, her anger reaching it's peak, "No Ron, what's ridiculous is the way you're acting. I thought you had gotten past that childish immaturity of yours, but I guess I was mistaken. I don't care what you think Ron but I know Harry's still out there alive, and I'm going to find him with or without you!"

With that, Hermione hung up the phone and literally threw it aside. Draco stared at her for a minute, unsure of what to say. Finally he snatched up Hermione's coffee cup and held it out of her reach.

"I'm taking this." He told her.

* * *

Several miles away, a rather steamed Ronald Weasely slammed the phone back onto the base. He couldn't believe Hermione was actually associating herself with the likes of Draco Malfoy. The mere thought of it almost made him sick. This was Malfoy, the one who used to regularly put Hermione down with his prejudiced insults, and now she was working with him?

Ron supposed he shouldn't have been so closed minded to Hermione's theory, but somehow he couldn't believe that Harry was still alive. He had lost his whole family and now his best friend, even if he managed to hope beyond hope that Harry wasn't dead and then it turned out he really was…

As Ron turned away from his desk, he began to wonder whether he would have been safer talking to Hermione or facing the anger of his wife.

"Ronald, what the hell is the matter with you?" Luna seethed, "How could you talk to Hermione like that?! For god sakes her fiancé just died!"

"But Luna," Ron countered, "If you'd heard what she was saying, she thinks Harry's still alive! She said the body they found was a golem and to top it all off, she's partnered up with Malfoy, _Draco Malfoy_ to find him."

"Oh come on Ron," Luna said exasperatedly, "You really find the idea of a golem body so strange, I've been wondering if that was the case myself, it's a perfectly reasonable theory."

Somehow that didn't convince Ron further. He'd heard enough of his wife's 'theories', and was pretty confident in his ability to tell which he should believe and which he should just pretend to.

"Luna, this is different!" Ron yelled, "This is a human life we're talking about here. What proof do they have that Harry's alive, how could they even tell the difference between a real body and a fake one? Especially if the magic is as old and difficult as they say it is."

"There are plenty of ways!" Luna fired back.

"Yeah yeah yeah, I don't want to hear about it anymore!" Ron yelled irrationally, "I'm going to bed!"

"Well that's fine then, go on and just laze about while Hermione's out there trying to find your so-called 'best friend.'" Luna shouted, angry tears beginning to stream down her face.

Ron could not remember the last time he'd felt so angry. He was mad at Hermione for giving him false hope, at Luna for believing it, at Harry for dying and leaving them, and at himself for being so powerless. He banged his fists down on the chair, and for the first time since the accident that put him there, almost wished he had gone with his family. His thoughts were so erratic, he ran his chair into the walls several times, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't calm down long enough to correctly guide the chair. The fourth time he was about to hit the wall, he looked forward and his heart sunk horribly.

Ahead of him there was no wall, just the large gap that lead to the staircase. It had been three years now since he'd last been able to use them, and now here he was, right about to do it again. The chair, to wide to fit through the passageway violently hit the sides and sent it's now former occupant sprawling downwards. His head hit almost every step, and the last thing he heard was Luna frantically screaming his name before his whole world went black.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Okay, two updates in two days, that's new. Don't expect the next chapter so soon though. Unfortunately I still have other fics that need attention. I promised you though I'll have the next chapter out as soon as possible. **

**One small warning about this chapter by the way, near the end Hermione's going to go a little nuts. Not like Ginny is though, more like…well, you'll see.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Luna Lovegood-Weasley paced the halls of St. Mungo's, her baby daughter clutched tight in her arms. Anna had fallen asleep an hour ago, her tiny hand holding onto her mother's finger. Luna leaned against the wall, not wanting to wake her daughter with her erratic footsteps, and she brushed a piece of blond hair away from the child's face.

She checked her watch for perhaps the twelfth time that night. It was 9:30, meaning it had been almost an hour since she brought her unconscious husband to the hospital. Shouldn't they know by now if he would be okay? Oh god, if he wasn't, she didn't know what she would do.

She had tried contacting Hermione, but her friend was probably still angry with Ron, and therefore didn't pick up the phone when Luna called. So she had asked the healers to contact her, telling them she was a family friend and should be here. They had promised to floo her with the message, but so far nothing seemed to come of it. Luna wasn't even sure if they'd actually done it. Other than that she didn't know who else to contact. After the murders she virtually became Ron's only family. Only their sister-in-law Fleur Delacour remained, but she had moved back to France with hers and Bill's daughter Victoire upon being widowed. Luna sighed and looked down lovingly at her daughter, knowing that no matter what happened, she had to be strong for Anna.

Another ten minutes passed and still nothing. Luna was quickly becoming anxious. Anna had by now woken up and began to fuss until Luna gave her her favorite stuffed animal. She had actually made the doll herself, Ron thought it looked like a squirrel that was chewed up and then spit out. It wasn't of course, that was just absurd; it was a hobble backed clamhock, a creature found mainly in the forests of America and Canada. They were supposed to bring good fortune to whoever found them, but since she had to do this, Luna figured the doll was the next best thing. Besides, Anna seemed to like it.

"Mrs. Weasley?" A feminine voice rang out.

Luna whirled around and saw a middle aged healer approaching her.

"Yes, is my husband okay?" Luna asked urgently.

The healer placed a comforting hand on the blonde's arm, "Mrs. Weasley, your husband is going to be okay."

She paused for a moment and Luna breathed a sigh of relief, once she turned her attention back to the healer, she continued.

"Mr. Weasley has a mild concussion but it's nothing a few potions can't heal," The healer explained. "there's just one thing."

The last part caught Luna by surprise and made her fears begin to return.

"What is it?" She asked cautiously.

"Well," the healer began after a beat, "When we examined Mr. Weasley, we found something strange, it seems someone has placed a memory charm on him, do you have any knowledge of that?"

To say Luna was shocked was an understatement, but thinking about it, it might explain the dreams Ron had been having, maybe they were really repressed memories.

"Mrs. Weasley?" the healer asked, causing Luna to realize she'd been quiet for to long.

"I'm sorry," Luna answered finally, "No, I didn't know about that."

"Are you sure? Your husband didn't cast it on himself or ask you to do it?" The healer questioned her further.

"No, never." Luna stated firmly.

The healer closed her mouth and regarded Luna for a moment, then she raised her wand and conjured up a bit of parchment and a quill.

"Well nonetheless, if you want the charm removed, you'll have to sign this authorization form." She explained holding the parchment out to the other woman.

Luna studied it for a minute unsure what to do. If Ron had placed it on himself without telling her, he probably wouldn't want her to removed it, especially without his permission. On the other hand, Ron would never do something like that without telling her first. Besides, memory charms were extremely risky to use, even more so on oneself. Ron had always been a bit reckless, but he wasn't stupid. Someone had definitely placed it on him, and if it wasn't himself or Luna, then who?

"Could you hold my daughter for a minute?" Luna asked of the healer after another few seconds.

The healer silently nodded and took the infant in her arms. Anna began fussing again and reached out for her mother. Luna smiled slightly at her child and then signed her name on the form.

* * *

They say when you die, your life flashes before your eyes.

* * *

**Four year old Ronald Weasley sat in the grass outside watching his two oldest brothers play quidditch with daddy. The twins trying to use mommy's wand to make a caterpillar grow and mommy had just noticed this, she was now shouting at the two boys and Ron couldn't help but giggle.**

* * *

**Seven year old Ron was really craving a cookie, but Mummy said no sweets before dinner. The cookie jar was unreachable, no matter how hard he tried to grab at it. Oh how he wanted that cookie.**

**Suddenly, the jar tipped over all by itself and the lid fell off. A single chocolate chip cookie rolled out and landed in Ron's waiting hands. He stared at the jar shocked for a moment, then his face cracked into a grin and he ran away from the scene with his treasure.**

* * *

**"Ron!" His mother called to him.**

**Ron Weasley, now eleven and on his way to Hogwarts in a few months stopped and turned around.**

"**Yes mum?" He answered like a good boy, just in case he was in trouble.**

"**I'm sure you know that your brother Percy was made a prefect." Molly Weasley stated.**

'**Oh no, not again.' "Yes mom, I know." Ron answered.**

"**Well, we've decided to buy him an owl as a present, and so he won't be needing Scabbers anymore, we were wondering if you wanted to keep him." Molly explained.**

**Ron fought the urge to roll his eyes, first hand-me-down clothes, now he was getting hand-me-down pets. It wasn't even a good pet, all that rat ever did was lay around the house and sleep all day, still, a stupid pet is better then no pet.**

"**Yeah sure mum," Ron answered, "I'll take him."**

* * *

**"Excuse me," Called a young bespectacled boy with messy black hair, "could you tell how to…"**

**The boy stopped and motioned at the wall which led to platform nine and three quarters. Ron's mother smiled at him.**

"**How to get onto the platfrom dearie, not to worry. It's Ron's first time as well." She motioned toward Ron.**

**Ron smiled slightly at the boy.**

* * *

**"Do you mind?" he asked the kid in the only empty compartment he could find, taking a moment to notice that it was the same one his mother had helped get into the station, "Everywhere else is full."**

"**Not at all." the kid answered.**

**Ron sat down smiling, "I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley."**

"**I'm Harry, Harry Potter."**

* * *

**"Holy crickets! You're Harry Potter!" Exclaimed the bushy haired girl, "I'm Hermione Granger," she looked at Ron, "and you are?"**

"**Ron Weasley." Ron answered, his mouth currently filled with chocolate, which seemed to mildly disgust the girl.**

"**Pleasure."**

* * *

"**Check." he whispered trying hard to sound brave.**

**The giant stone queen moved forward and clubbed him over the head knocking him out. **

* * *

**"Ron!" Harry's voice called from the other side of the rockslide, "Ron are you okay?"**

"**I'm fine." Ron called back.**

"**You wait here, I'll go on into the chamber and find Ginny." Harry told him before running away in the other direction.**

****

Ron stared in shock and awe as Scabbers, the family pat for more then twelve years, was revealed to him as Peter Pettigrew, the man who really betrayed the Potters and framed Sirius Black for the crime. A wave of nausea hit him and he'd never felt more betrayed in his life.

* * *

**Ron watched his best friend, or possibly former best friend continually avoid the Hungarian Horntail and soon retrieve his egg, in record time too. Since they had fought Ron had begun to regret abandoning his friend, especially now when Harry really needed support. He supposed he should have been more willing to believe Harry's story. Besides, a spell of Dumbledore's wouldn't be easy for anyone, not even Harry Potter to break.**

**He cheered along with the other Hogwarts students, silently vowing to apologize to Harry when he next saw him. Next to him, Hermione had been holding tight to his arm, her eyes never leaving the small speedy figure that was Harry, and when he finally succeeded she had cried tears of joy. Ron briefly wondered if she was so scared because she liked Harry a little more than as a friend, but quickly dismissed the notion.**

* * *

**Ron stared at the blond girl sitting across from Harry, Luna Lovegood her name was. She was reading a magazine upside-down and wearing huge earrings shaped like radishes. Ron could already tell he did not want to spend too much time around her, she'd probably make him loony too.**

* * *

**Ron had never felt more horrible. Sirius Black was dead, and it was all their fault. He knew Harry was probably suffering so much right now, Sirius was the closest thing to a father he had ever had. Ron swore to himself right then and there that he would stay be his best mate's side throughout this second war no matter what.**

* * *

**Ron stopped pressed against the wall, Lavender Brown's tongue in his mouth. His hands wandered up and down her body and he began to wonder why he was doing this.**

**Oh right, Hermione, to make her jealous, that's right.**

* * *

**Ron felt lower than ever, he had abandoned his friends yet again. It wasn't right, he had to go back. They needed him.**

**"Like a sister," Harry told him desperately, "I love Hermione like a sister."**

**Ron relished the words, even though a small part of his brain wasn't sure if he believed it.**

* * *

**Without warning, Hermione launched herself onto him. Pressing her lips against his, it was definitely more enjoyable than kissing Lavender. It was the best kiss he had ever received, and it was enough to convince him that he and Hermione were meant to be.**

* * *

**One year, they'd been together for one year. Ron sat in the restaurant waiting for his girlfriend to arrive. He didn't know if he had the nerve to do what he intended, but he knew it was right. He had noticed it for a month now, that their kisses didn't have that same spark anymore, his arm didn't tingle when she grabbed it, holding her hand meant nothing anymore.**

**When he first kissed her he thought they were soul-mates, but he knew now that he was wrong. He would always love Hermione, but not like that. He would love her like a sister, just like Harry supposedly did. Somewhere in his mind lay a shred of doubt for that. Even though Harry was dating Ginny, something about the way they interacted made Ron think…**

"**Ron." Hermione greeted him while walking over.**

**Ron smiled at her as she sat down, "How are you?"**

"**Fine fine." She answered.**

**They sat there in awkward silence, Ron knew it was now or never. He took a deep breath.**

"**Hermione I-"**

"**Ron, I think we need to see other people." Hermione said quickly, interrupting him.**

**Ron stared at her for a minute, causing her to look away as if she had done something wrong. But then Ron did something unexpected, he began laughing.**

"**What is so funny Ronald?" She asked indignantly.**

"**Hermione, I-I asked you here today because, well, I've been thinking the same thing." He told her once he had stopped.**

**Hermione had never looked more relieved in her life, "Thank Merlin, I was so afraid I would hurt your feelings."**

"**It's alright Hermione." He patted his friends hand, "I just want us to stay friends."**

**Hermione smiled, "Of course we will Ron."**

* * *

**Ron walked through the forest near his old home. He had come home to help celebrate his parents anniversary. It had been several months since he and Hermione broke it off and he didn't regret it. He had to admit though, he was getting very lonely.**

**Sudden movement nearby put him on the alert, but still he was caught completely by surprise when a young blonde woman jumped out at him.**

"**Bloody hell Luna!" He shouted at the familiar girl.**

"**Oh I'm sorry Ronald, I thought you were a Crumple-horned Snorcack." she said sincerely while brushing herself off.**

"**Well clearly I'm not!" 'batty woman' he added in his mind.**

"**Well, our recent studies have shown that some Snorcacks take on the form of someone the pursuer is familiar with, like a good friend." She explained, a stranger little smile on her face.**

**Ron stared at her, had she just called him a 'good friend'? Did she, in a rather strange way, consider him a friend? And what was with that smile. It both creeped him out and intrigued him at the same time. **

"**-with me if you like." she was saying.**

**Ron quickly brought his attention back to the blonde, "Huh, what?"**

**She giggled, just as weird as she'd always been, "I said, if you're not busy, you could come look for them with me if you like."**

**Ron regarded her for a moment, and even though he knew they weren't real, felt a strange urge to hunt them down with Luna. He didn't know why he was feeling this way, or what it meant, but he decided then and there to just run with it, and see where it took him.**

**"Alright Luna, let's go find those Snorcacks."**

* * *

**"Don't you just love sunsets?" Luna asked him.**

"**I don't know, I never really thought about it." Ron answered absentmindedly.**

"**Well you should. It's the best part of the day." She told him.**

"**Really?" Ron answered, "I always thought snack time was."**

**Luna smiled at him, "Yes but this is the time when the Guumoes come out." **

**Ron raised an eyebrow, "'Guumoes?'"**

"**Yes, they're wonderful!" Luna gushed, "they're tiny winged fire spirits. They only come out at night because the sun makes their own light overwhelming. They should be coming out now."**

**Ron stared at her for a minute, unsure of what to make of that or what to say. Suddenly, Luna gasped and pointed at something to their left. Ron had to lean backward in order to avoid getting hit by accident.**

"**There they are." She exclaimed.**

**Ron looked over where she was pointing and did indeed see small balls of light flashing near the trees, although they weren't 'Guumoes' as Luna thought.**

"**Luna," He started, "Those are fireflies."**

"**uh hm" She answered dreamily while staring at the little lights.**

**Ron was surprised that he had to fight so hard to keep a grin off his face. Luna Lovegood was the strangest girl he had ever encountered, and he loved it.**

* * *

**They were in the exact same spot again. It had been a year and a half, and Ron was finally ready.**

"**Aren't the Guumoes beautiful?" Luna asked him happily.**

"**Uh huh," Ron answered nervously, Luna didn't seemed to notice that though, "Um…Luna?"**

"**Yes Ronald?" She answered without looking up.**

**Ron pulled at his collar with one hand, fingering a small box with the other, "I-I didn't just bring you out here to see the Guumoes."**

**"Oh?"**

**"Yes," He took a deep breath before continuing, "I brought you here…because it was here that I first realized I was in love with you."**

**That got her attention, she turned her head to look at him and by the time she did, he was on his knees.**

"**Luna, I know I'm not the smartest guy around, but I do know that I want us to be together forever." He said, sweat beginning to pour down his face, he pulled the small box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a diamond ring.**

"**Luna Lovegood, will you marry me?" **

**For the first time since he met her, Luna looked stunned. Her mouth hung slightly open as her eyes went from the ring to Ron's face. Then she seemed to regain her trademark quirkiness and gave Ron a small smile.**

"**Ronald, you're so sweet." She told him.**

**Ron was confused now, he wasn't sure if that was a yes or a no. But Luna soon answered that question for him, jumping on him which sent them both to the ground and giving him the most mind-blowing kiss he'd ever received.**

* * *

_'Oh my head.'_

* * *

_**He woke with a start. The orange colors of his old bedroom giving him a bit of a headache. Downstairs he could hear his family talking rather loudly. He groaned in annoyance and headed into the bathroom. Once he finished, he walked out and made to go downstairs and see what all the commotion was about. As he headed for the stairs though, he casually glanced into his younger sisters open, which was partially open and did a double-take. When had she acquired all those pictures of Harry?**_

_**Ron walked into in the room pushing open the ajar door with a loud creaking. Harry's grin smiled down at him from every inch of the wall. Whether it be a newspaper clipping or an actual photograph. **_

_**If Ron ever thought his fiance scared him, it was nothing compared to this. What made it worse was he knew Ginny and Harry had broken up weeks ago. On her nightstand were several pamphlets and photos of houses. Ron examined them and found that all of them were in America. The pamphlets basically advertised the finer points of cities like Aspen, Cape Cod, and Montauk. The pictures of houses were apparently from real estate agents and showed houses in Arizona, New York, Massachusetts. One picture had been circled with black ink. A rather old looking farmhouse in a state called-**_

**_BANG!_**

**_Ron jumped when he heard the sound and dropping the pictures, ran out and went downstairs. He found that his mother had slammed a heavy book onto the kitchen table and was glaring daggers at Ginny, the other Weasley men looked at her in disgust. Ron was about to ask what was going on when his mother went off._**

"_**Ginevra Molly Weasley, do you realize that what you're doing is illegal, not to mention immoral?" She raged.**_

"_**Don't talk to me like I'm a child." Ginny answered coolly, her calmness effectively making Ron nervous.**_

"_**I'll talk to you however I see fit," Mrs. Weasley screamed, "I know you're upset that Harry left you but this, this is evil what your trying to do."  
**_  
_**"What's so evil about trying to have a life with Harry?" Ginny asked her with that same strange calmness, "Harry and I love each other, right now he's confused, Granger's done something to his head, she's made him think he loves her. I'm not going to her take him from me and if you really cared about him or me, you won't stand in my way."**_

"_**Ginny," Said Mr. Weasley, speaking up for the first time, "This isn't normal what your doing. I've seen those pictures in your room that's the kind of thing a stalker does, that's not love."**_

_**Ron couldn't see Ginny's face from his angle, but he did see when her body tensed up.**_

"_**This is completely unacceptable Ginny," Mrs. Weasley went on, "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours but it's clear to all of us that you need serious help."  
**_

_**Ginny went rigid, "Are you talking about an institution? A madhouse?"**_

**_"Ginny that's not what we meant." Said Bill._**

"_**You are aren't you?" She snapped, "You want to send me away so I'll never see him again."**_

"_**Ginny please, just listen to us." Mr. Weasley pleaded.**_

"_**Well you can't!" She almost shouted, "I won't let you."**_

"_**Ginny-"**_

"_**I WON'T LET YOU!!" With one swift motion her wand was out and pointed at her father, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"**_

_**The green light filed the room and struck Arthur Weasley in the chest. Mrs. Weasley screamed and with another green light from Ginny, joined her husband. The horrified Weasley brothers stood rigid in shock for a moment before all at once running towards their sister, with the intent of incapacitating her. Ginny however had grown rather tough from living with six brothers her whole life. After throwing George off her she fired another curse at Percy, who dodged causing the curse to hit a mirror. The curse ricocheted off the mirror and hit the ceiling not only breaking the support beam in half, but disrupting the magic that supported the house.**_

_**What happened after that, Ron wasn't entirely sure, but the next time he was aware of his surroundings he was lying under a pile of wood. His head hurt a lot but his legs felt strangely numb. It was raining now and water beat down mercilessly on his broken body. In this position he couldn't turn his head very well, but in plain view he could see a hand sticking out of the rubble. Ron didn't know who's it was, but somehow he knew they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, none of them would. Tears were forming in Ron's eyes when he heard soft footsteps. He looked up as best as he could, and was just barely able to see his sister's face before she crouched down in front of him.**_

"_**Ron? Are you alright?" She asked sounding genuinely concerned.**_

_**Ron wasn't sure whether he should be happy she lived, or enraged at her for doing this, or if he should just beg her for help. "G-Gin," He tried to say, but the debris was pressing on his lungs making it hard for him to speak.**_

"_**Shhh," Ginny shushed him, "Don't talk, you need to save your energy."**_

_**Ron dropped his head in mourning, he knew he was the only one, he knew by her expression.**_

"_**It's okay Ron, I don't blame you for want happened, it was all Hermione, not you." Ginny told him smiling, "Just don't move to much and you'll be okay."**_

_**She stood back up and pointed her wand at the sky, "Morsmorde." she recited.**_

_**The dreadfully familiar green skull appeared in the sky as Ginny glanced again at her injured brother.**_

"_**The aurors will be here soon now, or possibly Luna. She lives nearby right? I'm sure she's seen it by now." Ginny said softly, "I'm so sorry Ron, please know that I would never willingly hurt you."**_

"_**G-…" He gasped for air, "Gin-"**_

"_**You always were my favorite brother," she told him. Her wand arm raised slowly, she aimed right at him.**_

**_"Gin- No" He whispered hopelessly._**

**_"It's going to be alright Ron," she told him, the tell-tale sad look on her face said somehow that this would be the last time they would see each other, "I love you big brother."_**

**_"Gin-ny."_**

**_"OBLIVIATE!"_**

* * *

When Ron finally woke up, there was a horrible ringing in his ears. It took several moments for him to realize that it was his own screams he heard. Luna was next to him trying frantically to calm him.

"RON! RON, CALM DOWN! IT'S ALRIGHT!" She was shouting.

A wave of nausea swept over him and he ended up vomiting all over one side off the bed, luckily not getting any on his wife.

"NURSE! NURSE!" Luna bellowed.

Quick as a flash two nurses were in the room, one administered a calming drought to Ron while the other cleaned up the mess he'd made.

Once the potion took effect, he turned to Luna.

"You have your cell phone with you?" He asked abruptly.

Luna looked a bit taken aback, "Yes, but why do you need it?"

"I need to call Hermione," He told her, "It's urgent."

"But Ron-"

"JUST GIVE ME THE DAMNED PHONE!!"

* * *

Ten minutes later Hermione Granger finally arrived at St. Mungo's, dragging a sullen looking Draco Malfoy along with her.

"Hello," She said to the receptionist, "We're looking for Ronald Weasley's ro-"

"Hermione!" Luna's voice sounded from down the hall.

Hermione and Draco immediately ran toward her and the three of them entered Ron's room.

"Hermione," Ron gasped when he saw his best friend.

"Ron what happened to you?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"That's not important right now." Ron told her.

"But-"

"Hermione, LISTEN TO ME!"

Hermione was shocked. Ron hadn't yelled at her for years.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said before, I was just being a stupid prat because I felt so damn sorry for myself. But I know now that you were right, Harry's alive, and I know where he is."

Hermione was speechless, as was everyone in the room, including the healers present who knew for a fact that Harry Potter was dead.

"Ron, are you sure?" Draco asked him, using the other man's first name for the first time ever.

"It's Ginny, Hermione." Ron said ignoring Malfoy.

Hermione stared at him, "Wh-what?"

"It's Ginny," Ron repeated, "She's alive, and she kidnapped Harry, it's her, it's Ginny!"

* * *

**A/N: Just want to let everyone know that I seriously considered ending it here, but decided to refrain from being evil this one time. Don't expect me to make a habit of it though. And now back to your regularly scheduled fic.**

* * *

Paralyzed. That's how Hermione felt. Ginny? Her best friend? Alive? Harry's kidnapper? The Weasley's murderer?

No.

Yes.

How?

They never saw her leave.

* * *

Ginny came in to give him dinner. Tonight it was Linguini Alfredo. She fed him with a smile on her face while whistling a happy tune. As she got up to leave, she turned back to face him and smiled.

"Tomorrow my love, tomorrow."

* * *

Are you absolutely sure about this Weasley?" Draco asked suspiciously.

"Of course I am, I didn't know before because she put a memory charm on me, the healers took it off and now I remember everything. She killed my family, and now she has Harry." Ron exclaimed.

"But where would she take him?" Luna asked while feeding Anna from a bottle.

"She had these pictures of houses in her room," Ron explained, "They were all in America, and one was circled. A house in Colorado."

"Colorado?" Draco snorted, "Why would she picked there? I mean, what's in Colorado other then hick-filled, little mountain towns?"

"I don't know Malfoy, but that's where he is, I'm sure of it." Ron answered exasperatedly.

"It would explain why the search parties didn't find him," Luna said thinking aloud, "They really only looked through Europe."

"Well what do you think Hermione?" Draco asked and glanced over to where Hermione was standing.

Or where she had been standing.

"Hermione?" Draco called, looking around the room for her.

"Where did she go?" Ron asked, also now noticing his best friend wasn't there.

"What I don't get is this," Luna piped up, not yet seeming to notice what the men did, "They found Ginny's body with everyone else's didn't they."

Draco pondered that for a minute, "Yes they did," he muttered. His eyes then widened in realization and he now knew were Hermione had gone. "Oh no." he moaned putting a hand to his head.'

"What's with you Malfoy?" Ron asked his former school enemy.

"I have to go," Draco told them while grabbing up his coat, "I think I know where she is."

Luna stood up, "I'll come with you."

"Doesn't your husband need you?" Draco asked, visibly annoyed with them.

"I'm fine on my own Malfoy." Ron answered crossly.

Luna approached one of the healers, "Could you watch our baby for me while I'm gone?"

"Of course Mrs. Weasley." The healer smiled as she took Anna into her arms.

With that, Draco and Luna headed out the door and down the hall.

* * *

Draco ended up making them apparate to the graveyard where the Weasley family now rested. Luna pulled her jacket tight around her arms as the rain beat down. Thunder sounded in the background causing a chill to run up and down Luna's spine.

"Which way to their graves?" Draco asked her loudly over the rain.

"Over here," She motioned to her left.

Draco turned that way and walked forward, Luna right behind him. As they got closer, they could hear a rather odd sound. It sounded like someone…digging.

They were about ten feet away when they saw her. There was Hermione Granger, the know-it-all witch of Gryffindor, the smartest witch of her age, and the most rational and level headed person either of them had ever met. And she was digging up Ginevra Weasley's grave.

"HERMIONE!" Luna screamed and ran toward the grave, Draco in her following close behind her.

"HERMIONE!" She screamed again once she was standing over the grave and looking down at Hermione, "HERMIONE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Thunder roared behind them and Draco had to take a moment to regard the progress Hermione had made with her digging in such a short time.

"Hermione!" Luna shouted a third time.

"I have to know!" Hermione finally answered, continuing her digging.

"Hermione you don't have to do this!" Luna shouted back.

"YES I DO!! I HAVE TO KNOW!!" Hermione screamed again.

Luna made to jump into the hole back Draco held her back. Luna then broke down into sobs leaving Draco the task of attempting to comfort her, albeit awkwardly. A loud thump alerted Draco and Luna to Hermione's discovery. She hit it two more times with the shovel to make sure and when she was, began frantically wiping the dirt away from the decomposing coffin. Luna looked up through her tears and when the casket was opened, the only sound that could be heard was the rain and thunder in the background.

With adrenaline enhancing her strength, Hermione was soon able to get the coffin open. The three looked inside and nobody moved for a long time. Then Hermione went rigid and from her came a terrible sound. She screamed with all the frustration, fear, betrayal, sadness, and pure rage boiling within her and beat her fists against the earthen wall surronding her.

All the while rainwater poured into the coffin, which was already filled almost to the brim with rocks.

* * *

* * *


	12. Chapter 11

It really was a nice day out, not that Harry cared. After being locked in this goddamned room for so long, it hardly mattered anymore. He didn't need to look out the window though to know that it was daylight, and it was that day. The day Ginny had been waiting for.

Why she was waiting, Harry didn't know, but he had a horrible feeling that whatever it was, it was going to involve someone dying. As he waited for Ginny to come in and tell him that it was time, with that frighteningly happy grin plastered all over her face, he ran through all the fantasies he had created these last few weeks one more time.

He could almost see Hermione slowly approaching him in a beautiful white dress. The image of it taunted him, because he knew he could never have it now. Harry looked at his daughter for the first time, his beautiful Chloe, her eyes already filled with so much question, so much desire to learn. She would have done great things. He is handed his son by a doctor, he looks so much like his grandfather. Chloe tugs on her father's sleeve, she is five years old now, and she wants to see her baby brother. He picks her up in one arm and keeps a tight grip on David with the other. With that the Potter siblings are introduced to each for the first time.

He and Hermione are watching Chloe get on the train to Hogwarts, David is pouting because he wants to go to Hogwarts too. Will he get his chance?

Chloe has sent them a letter, she was sorted into Ravenclaw. 'For her sharp wit' Harry thinks to himself. He and Hermione are both so proud of her. Now it's David's turn, he practically runs onto the train, excited to start his seven years of school and make his parents proud.

Chloe is graduating now, and in a few months she'll be married to a handsome young man going to work at the ministry, who could possibly be the next minister of magic. Harry didn't like him at first; no father is anxious to see their little girl with some boy, but Harry knows he's a good man, and he'll take good care of her.

Now he's playing with his grandchildren, there are five; two are David's, three are Chloe's. They' re all so beautiful, so young and full of life. Hermione smiles from her chair across the room. She is aging beautifully, her hair has turned gray with age but to Harry she is still as lovely as she was the day he met her.

Harry's lying on a bed now, his whole family around him save for Hermione, who has already gone on. Now it's time he joined her. His eldest granddaughter has just given birth to her first child, and Harry is grateful he lived to see him and hold him. They named him Harry, after his great-grandfather, whom he even looks like. The green eyes of his mother have been passed to another generation, as has his legacy, the one he started with Hermione by his side.

Hermione.

Hermione.

"HERMIONE!!"

Harry was barely aware that he had shouted, nor that he had fallen asleep, but that he supposed was a given. He wasn't really sure what had woke him up, perhaps it was the sound of his own voice, because he'd obviously been saying Hermione's name in his sleep, and unfortunately he wasn't the only one who'd heard it.

Ginny stood on the other side of the room, her face held the same expressionless look that she'd had after his attempted escape. She was dressed in a fancy green dress, her long red hair pulled back into a bun, she looked as if she was going to a party. In her hand was a small vile filled almost to the top with a greenish liquid, Harry could only guess what it was for but judging from his previous experiences as her captive, it couldn't be good.

The look on her face spelled trouble, so Harry decided to try looking as innocent as he could. It probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a shot.

"Good Morning Ginny." He said smiling.

"It's 3 in the afternoon." She answered abruptly.

Harry was taken aback by that, and it only made him feel worse.

"I-Is anything wrong?" He stammered out.

Ginny sighed, "I don't know," She answered after a beat, "I came in here to tell you that it was finally time, and I found you asleep, and calling out her name."

"Oh?" Harry answered, taking note of the way she had said 'her'.

"Yes, and it makes me sad," Ginny said, "I had thought that after spending so much time with me, you would have forgotten her, but I suppose it was a silly idea. I've only just realized that you can only forgot her if the spell she put on you is broken, only then can you truly be mine again."

She approached him slowly, if Harry could move he would have backed away. Once she reached the foot of his bed, she uncorked the vile.

"The time has finally come," She whispered, "Our time has finally come."

In a flash she was at his side with her free hand forcing Harry's mouth open, he struggle the best he could with his limited mobility, but was unable to push her off him. She forced his mouth open just like she had when she first gave him that potion, only this time she poured the unfamiliar green liquid from the tube into his mouth. Harry braced himself for whatever pain this potion would cause him, but was surprised when he tasted not acid, but something light and sugary. He was about to swallow when a thought struck him, if this wasn't the novriltus potion, what was it?

Ginny sensed his discomfort and grabbed him by the throat, forcing him to swallow. As soon as it went down, fear reignited in the pit of his stomach and he wondered just how long it would be before whatever poison she had just given him would take affect. He also thought about why she had to wait until this particular day to finally end him, if that had been her plan all along, what made today so special?

"How do you feel?" She asked him out of nowhere.

Harry looked at her in surprise and anger, how was he feeling? She'd just poisoned him, how did she think he was feeling?! When he thought about it though, he realized that he didn't really feel like he had been poisoned, in fact, physically he felt fine.

"Alright." He answered cautiously.

"Stand up then." Ginny said in a commanding tone.

Harry just stared at her, confusion written on his face, which Ginny quickly noticed.

"The potion I just gave you is the antidote to the Noviltus," She explained, "You should be able to move now."

He lay there wide-eyed. Could it be true? His eyes darted to his hand and just like the last time, he willed it to move. To his shock, he was able to curl it into a fist and with his renewed confidence, attempted and succeeded at sitting up in bed. Ginny watched him expressionless as ever, waiting for him to fully come to terms with what had just happened.

Once Harry was over the shock, he stared up at Ginny curiously, "What's going on? What are you doing?"

For the first time since Harry'd first seen her that day, Ginny's face cracked into a grin.

"Haven't you realized Harry?" She asked him happily, "The day has finally come."

It was then that Harry finally asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time, "What day?"

Ginny didn't answer but moved slowly toward the bed and began pulling on Harry's arm, indicating that she wanted him to stand up. Harry was nowhere near strong enough to fight her at the moment and so he did what she wanted. At full height Harry towered over the petite Ginny, and yet under her insanely happy gaze, he couldn't help but feel very small and meek.

"Today's the day we leave…" She stopped in an effort to sound dramatic, "…together."

That last word chilled Harry, and he wondered just what she meant by it because he knew that two 'dead' people couldn't possibly walk around in public, even in the muggle world it was too risky.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked slowly, dreading the answer.

Ginny grinned wider and without warning, pulled Harry into a tight hug.

"Oh darling it's wonderful!" She gushed, "I've waited so long for this day, the day when we'd finally go on together."

'Go on?' Harry thought, that didn't sound good.

Ginny had her head nuzzled into Harry's chest as she let out a happy sigh. Then she lifted her head and brought her brown eyes up to meet his green ones,

"We're finally going home."

If the situation had been different, Harry would have assumed she meant the Burrow, or wherever she was currently taking up residence, but he knew that wasn't what she meant. What she meant was something far more…spiritual.

"I've had it all planned out for the last year, I waited until tonight because it was the new moon, a perfect time to start our new lives, we'll go out into the forest and start anew, just as it was meant to be."

'New Moon? How cliche' Harry thought to himself.

Those thoughts vanished, replaced by ones of fear when Ginny drew her pistol seemingly from nowhere, the grin never falling from her face.

"I've put two bullets in this gun," She said in a smooth voice, "One for me, and one for you. Oh darling it will be so beautiful."

Harry closed his eyes, his worst fears realized. He briefly wondered what she intended to do about the fact that if they were both dead, nobody would be there to hide the bodies, and if they were found , it wouldn't be long for them to put the pieces together, especially considering Ginny was supposed to have been dead for years. Then he remembered that she'd said they were doing it in the forest, and he realized that wild animals would probably have eaten away at their remains by the time anybody found them, and what was left would be indistinguishable. She truly had thought of everything, the bitch.

"There's just one more thing left to do," Ginny said suddenly causing Harry to jump a little.

She backed away from him and Harry saw that she was no longer smiling.

"What's wrong?" He asked trying hard to sound concerned.

Ginny stared at him for a minute and then sighed, "Well it's my fault really, I should have known the vixen would have put some kind of spell on you so that you wouldn't forget her."

Harry felt a stab of anger, he knew who she was talking about and he wanted nothing more at the moment than to grab her by the throat and force her to take it back.

"I heard you before," She continued, "You were calling her name in your sleep, and that wasn't the first time it's happened."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Harry told her chuckling nervously.

"Oh really," Ginny answered with no real conviction, "well it doesn't matter either way, I've realized that you can never truly be mine again until she is out of the way…which is why I'm going to have to go take care of her before we leave, and you need to stay here until I get back."

Harry's heart wrenched, his head filling with images of Ginny standing over a beaten and bloody Hermione, her wand raised as she prepared to strike the final blow, and his anger finally spiraled out of control. With a strangled cry he grabbed Ginny by her shoulders and violently shoved her against the wall, his rage giving him renewed strength. Ginny gasped in shock and her eyes were almost fearful.

"If you lay one finger on her," He hissed dangerously, "So help me I will make you pay."

Ginny managed to grab a hold of her wand and with a silent banishing charm flung Harry off her and across the room. He landed with a sickening thud and groaned as pain shot up and down his back. Looking up he saw Ginny standing over him with her wand still raised.

"I'll forgive you for that," She said much too calmly, "I'll forgive you because I know that's just her spell talking. Now I want you to just relax, I have wards on the window and the door that will activate as soon as I leave, when I come back I'll take them down and we'll go, alright?"

Harry didn't move. Ginny didn't wait much longer for an answer and backed slowly out the door. Once it was closed Harry momentarily saw a green light engulf it, and knew that the wards she placed had taken affect. He leaned his head against the wall and choked back a sob, the hopelessness of it all weighing down on him. He didn't have his wand, God only knew what she'd done with it, and without it he couldn't get rid of the wards. There was nothing he could do now but wait for Ginny to return, signaling that Hermione was now lying in a pool of blood somewhere; wait to head into the dark foreboding trees outside; wait to have a bullet lodged into his brain; wait for his life to end.

He could hear Hermione's voice now in his head, she laughed at a joke someone had told, whispered sweet nothings into his ear, cried while watching that one movie about the ship that sunk many years ago, begged Ginny for mercy.

_'No!' _The voice in his head screamed,_ 'Don't think about that, don't go there, Ginny won't kill her, Hermione's strong, she'll fight her off.'_

_'But Ginny's insane,'_ Harry answered the voice,_ 'Who knows what she's capable of, she'll go to any means necessary to kill Hermione.'_

Harry couldn't think about that anymore, he had to think of the good things, only the good. He didn't know how much time had passed since Ginny's left, not that it mattered, unless she'd already gotten to Hermione.

_"What? Oh of course Harry, I'd love to go out with you sometimes."_

_"Well…to be perfectly honest, I've kind of had feelings for you too, for a while now actually."_

_"Oh Harry, I love you too, and yes, I will marry you."_

_"I love you Harry."_

_"I love you Harry."_

_"Harry…Harry…Harry! HARRY!"_

_'That's strange.'_ Harry thought silent, his brow furrowed, why did Hermione suddenly sound so…frightened in his mind?

What was that banging on the door?

* * *

  
After ten minutes of listening to the 'hold' music, Hermione was becoming frustrated. Next to her Draco stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, waiting for Hermione to get on the phone with the 'real abate' agent or whoever she was trying to call. Five more minutes passed before someone finally came on at the other end.

"Hello, sorry about the wait, my name is Jenny how can I help you?" said a cheerful feminine voice.

"Yes," Hermione answered, "A friend of mine recently moved out into the state of Colorado, unfortunately I have been unable to get in touch with her to find her new address and it's imperative that I get it, I need to talk to her so I was hoping if I gave you her name you could give me her new address."

"I'm sorry, I'm not authorized to give you that information." the other woman answered almost robotically.

Hermione sighed and brought her hand to her head.

"What's wrong now?" Draco asked, clearly annoyed.

"She said she can give me the information." Hermione told him while covering the reciever with her hand.

Draco regarded her for a minute before rolling his eyes and grabbing the phone from the brunette before she could say anything to stop him. Hermione watched him walk slowly away while talking to the woman on the other end in a hushed voice; she could only guess what they were saying.

Finally, Draco turned back around and held the phone out to her, "Okay, she'll tell you now."

Hermione stared at him while taking it, "What did you do?"

Draco smirked, "Don't worry about that, just get the information you need, I have to write a letter to Gringotts"

With that he turned and walked away. Hermione was pretty sure she knew what he'd done, but at the moment didn't care as she brought the phone back up to her ear.

"Are you still there?" She asked.

"Yes, can I have your friend's name?" Jenny asked.

Hermione sighed in relief, "Her name's Ginevra Weasley."

A beat. "Can you please spell that?" Jenny asked sounding a bit unsure.

"G-I-N-E-V-R-A W-E-A-S-L-E-Y" Hermione spelled out slowly.

She could hear a faint typing sound at the other end and waited for Jenny's response.

"I'm sorry," She finally said, "We have nothing under 'Ginevra Weasley'.

Hermione thought for a minute, "Try Ginny Weasely then."

Several moments later the real estate agent came back on.

"Nothing under that name either."

"Damn it." Hermione cursed under her breath.

She was about to hang up and try somewhere else when a thought struck her, one that gave her new hope and infuriated her at the same time.

"Do another search," She said to the woman in a grim voice, "This time, look for a Ginevra Potter."

* * *

  
An hour later, Hermione and Draco were driving down an icy Colorado road in a rental car. Draco sat somewhat uncomfortably in the passenger seat while Hermione drove a little too quickly past tree after tree, her hands gripping the steering wheel tight.

"I just don't see why we can't have apparated directly there." Draco muttered.

"Oh use your head Malfoy," Hermione snapped not taking her eyes off the road, "If you kidnapped a wizard who is fully capable of apparation, you're saying you wouldn't put up anti-apparation wards so that he couldn't get away himself?"

Thinking about it, Draco had to admit she was right.

"But couldn't he just get rid of them?" He asked.

Hermione banged her hands on the steering wheel, "Dammit Malfoy, isn't it obvious? She took his wand immediately, that's the first thing you do. Merlin and I thought you were supposed to be an auror."

Draco just turned his head away from her, quickly realizing that it was pointless to argue with her when she was like this.

When they reached the decrepit old farm house, Hermione and Draco got out of the car and looked around.

Draco sneered, "Well this place is a dump."

Hermione ignored that comment, "The real estate agent told me this house had been up for sale for years. The previous occupant had been some crazy old woman who was keeping a writer hostage."

"Hm, that's ironic." Draco commented.

Hermione could only nod in agreement before pulling out her wand, "We should check for wards."

Draco nodded and drew his wand as well. It took several minutes but they eventually broke the wards and cautiously approached the door.

"Look," said Draco, "You go in and I'll stay out here and look around outside, maybe she has some kind of secret hiding place or something."

Hermione raised her eyebrow but didn't bother arguing, besides she was confident in her abilties as a duelist and was sure she could hold her own dueling Ginny if she had to.

"Alright then." She answered and opened the door slowly.

Draco nodded again and walked back towards the car before turning left and walking away from her. Hermione watched him go for a moment and then turned back towards the old house and slowly went inside.

Neither one of them noticed a young redheaded woman watching from a shadowy place while they drove up, removed the wards and entered the house. A chilling grin appeared on her face as she realized just how much easier this made things for her. After a moment of consideration, she decided to deal with Malfoy first and searched the area for a suitable tool, she would use magic, but she couldn't risk alerting Hermione just yet. Her eyes fell on a thin instrument leaning against the house covered in dust and she grinned wider.

_'Perfect.'_

* * *

  
Draco moved slowly around the perimeter of the house, every now and then checking for any magical activity, so far he had found nothing.

He was beginning to wonder if they were even still there, or if they ever had been at all. He rationalized though that there would have been no wards placed on the house had that been the case, and so he continued his sweep of the area.

For perhaps the tenth time he drew his wand an mutter the appropriate spell, this time it picked up wards placed on the window several feet above him. He backed up a little but was unable to see inside the room. It became obvious to him that it was probably Potter's room and he prepared to cast the ward-removing charms when a noise like a twig snapping came from behind him, making him stop. Before he could turn around to look, a huge force collided with the back of his head.

Draco fell to the ground in a daze, his eyes darted left and right, where already a pool of blood was forming, his wand lying uselessly a foot or so away. He looked up and saw a wild redheaded figure standing over him before the angry black mass came down on him again.

* * *

  
Hermione made her way down the hall as slowly as possible. She didn't want to be too slow though, who knew where Ginny could be, she could jump out from any shadowed area or any doorway and catch Hermione by surprise.

She hadn't seen anything yet, the wall were mostly barren, occasionally she'd come across photos of Harry and Ginny smiling happily at Hermione, almost as if they were mocking her with their joy. A hall of doors appeared before her when she turned a corner. She stood watching them apprehensively like she expected something to jump through one and attack her. Hermione knew that Harry must be behind one of these doors and the only way to find out which was to look.

She approached the first door and opened it slowly, finding nothing behind it but an empty room with a dusty window and an old fold-up table. Looking all around briefly she walked back out, shut the door behind her and turned around…

…just in time to dodge the blow of a bloody sledgehammer wielded by a familiar redhead.

Hermione fell to the floor and rolled on her back, now facing the woman she once called her best friend.

"Ginny!" She choked out.

"You just couldn't stay away," Ginny said softly, raising the sledgehammer again, "You just couldn't give him up peacefully."

The weight of the large weapon slowed Ginny which gave Hermione time to crawl away and get back up. The sledgehammer came down again on the spot where she'd just been sitting. Ginny cursed in fury and hoisted it up over her shoulder again.

"Ginny, please don't." Hermione pleaded with the other woman while reaching for her wand.

"'Don't what?'" Ginny asked almost mockingly, "Don't kill you? Don't smash your head in? Don't take Harry away from you?"

Ginny took a step forward and Hermione pulled her wand out.

"Ginny…" Hermione started slowly, "you can't do this, you need help, I'm your friend and I just want to-"

The redhead swung her weapon again this time hitting the wall right next to Hermione causing her to scream, jump back and in the confusion drop her wand; she didn't dare try to pick it up. Obviously something she said had made Ginny angry.

"_Never_," Said woman started dangerously as she pulled her weapon out of the hole it just made in the wall, "Never call yourself my friend Hermione Granger. You were never my friend, all you ever wanted was to take Harry away from me."

"Ginny-"

"WELL GUESS WHAT?!" Ginny shouted swinging the sledgehammer threateningly and hitting the wall again, "You didn't, he's all mine now just as it should be, and soon you will never be able to tear us apart again."

In her crazed state Ginny failed to realize that she was about to step on Hermione's fallen wand and ended up losing her balance momentarily giving Hermione just enough time to take off in the other direction back outside.

She heard Ginny coming after her and broke into a run. Hermione had almost made a complete circle around the house when she turned another corner and stopped dead in her tracks. She quickly brought her hand to her mouth to avoid vomiting all over the ground at the sight of Draco Malfoy's limp form sprawled out on the ground. His head was an almost indistinguishable bloody mess and Hermione now knew where the blood on Ginny's giant hammer had come from. Hearing heavy footsteps behind her Hermione quickly but carefully stepped over the body. Before turning the corner she took one last look at the fallen Slytherin, silently promising to return later for his body and bring it back so he could have a proper funeral.

Hermione padded over to the door and walked inside. All was quiet now, Ginny was probably still outside looking for her. Hermione spotted her wand still near the wall and snatched it up. Instinctively she reached for the door closet to her and was both shocked and excited when a heavy force pushed her hand away and even forced her back a few steps.

'This is it,' She thought to herself, 'He's right here, he has to be.'

Hermione muttered the ward breaking spells and after two minutes had all of them down except for a very strong locking charm. Try as she might, she couldn't bring it down. Now desperate, Hermione began banging on the door and screaming his name.

"Harry! HARRY!!"

* * *

  
Harry stared at the door as the thumping grew louder. Was it his imagination? Had they finally come for him? Was he going insane?

Did it matter anymore?

"HARRY!!" Her voice screamed again.

"Hermione?" He said hoarsely.

The thumping stopped.

"Harry?" Hermione sobbed happily.

_'Oh god it is her!'_

Harry rushed to the now strangely unwarded door and after failing to get it open, pressed his ear against it so he could at least hear her.

"Hermione!" He said again, "Is it really you?"

"Yes Harry!" She choked back, "It's me, I'm here."

Harry could have cried, but now wasn't the time; they still had to get out of there alive. Once again his hand found the doorknob and he uselessly tried to turn it.

"I can't open the door." He told her miserably.

"I know," Hermione answered, "But we'll find a way out of this, just like we always do."

Harry nodded, glad for the briefest moment that she couldn't see him because he knew his face would betray what he was really feeling: hopelessness.

"I know," He said, "I know we will."

For a moment, they were both silent. They knew what they wanted to say to each other but were too scared of what the other would think. Finally Harry broke the silence.

"But if we don't," He said softly, knowing she was listening intently, "know that I love you."

Hermione didn't know what to say, she wanted to reassure him that they would make it, or tell him that she had a plan to escape, but that wasn't the truth. There was only one response to that:

"I love you too." She said almost in a whisper.

* * *

  
Hermione leaned against the door, for the moment content knowing that the man she loved was on the other side alive and talking to her, but for how much longer?  
Movement form behind out her on the alert and she managed to move away before Ginny's next blow could hit her. Instead it struck the door creating a large hole in it. Hermione could hear Harry yelp in surprise and move back heavily. Hermione finally lost her temper and fired a 'reducto' at her former best friend sending her flying into the opposite wall, but not before her large weapon fell from her grasp.

With that opening Hermione reached for the sledgehammer but was stopped again when a still concious Ginny managed to w crawl over to her and rap her legs around Hermione's making her fall to the ground as well. By the time she got back up she saw that Ginny had gotten a hold of her muggle weapon again and was preparing to strike another blow.

Hermione glanced at the charmed doorknob and suddenly got an idea.

"Harry stand back!" She shouted not caring that Ginny heard.

Hermione aimed her wand at the door, "REDUCTO!" She shouted for the second time now before Ginny could stop her.

The door blew open and almost broke into pieces. Harry stood next to the rubble and stared in awe at his fiancé. That quickly changed to fear when he noticed Ginny behind her.

"HERMIONE!" He screamed just as the sledgehammer came down again on the brunettes wand arm.

A sickening crack sounded as Hermione fell to her knees, screaming in pain and clutching her now badly broken arm. Her wand lay forgotten on the floor beside her.

Harry stood rooted to the ground in shock, watching Ginny tower over his fallen love.

"This is the end for you now Hermione," Ginny said in a strangely calm voice, "He's all mine now."

Harry stared at the back of Ginny's head with more anger and hate than he'd ever held for anyone before. Only one thought ran through his mind: 'Protect Hermione!'

And so, he stepped forward and grabbed the redhead standing over her.

"Ginny!" He said firmly.

She turned around and immediately Harry pulled her close to his body and crashed his lips down on hers.

* * *

  
Hermione looked up in a daze wondering where Ginny had gone. One minute she was there ready to kill her, the next she'd vanished. The pain in her arm was so bad Hermione could barely move, but in the end she managed to lift her head enough to see Harry and Ginny locked in a tight embrace, and her heart clenched.

She prayed that the pain was simply making her hallucinate and it wasn't real, then she wondered if perhaps Ginny had delivered the final blow already and now she was dead and in Hell. She closed her eyes in willed the tears away. Then she felt a strange sense like someone was watching her and slowly opened her eyes. She found a pair of green ones watching her closely and she tried to keep her focus on them, if only her arm didn't hurt so much.

Harry stared at Hermione for another second while Ginny was all over him…and winked at her.

Upon seeing that small gesture, relief flooded through Hermione's mind and body. He was just faking it, he must have had a plan. But that led to a another, not quite so pleasant feeling of anxiety to wave through her. Just what was his plan?

* * *

  
Harry endured about thirty seconds of the snogging before pulling away from her. Ginny stared at him with arousal written on her face, it made Harry feel sick.

"You were right Ginny," He told her in a low, husky voice, "I realize now that we are meant to be together…and it is time for us to leave this plane of existence, and go on to a better one, one where nobody can put an end to our love. Somewhere were we'll be free."

"Oh Harry." Ginny moaned closing her eyes.

Harry looked up and saw that the sun was setting. He swallowed, "It's time for us to go…and she must come with us."

Ginny opened her eyes and looked behind her at Hermione when she heard that last part.

"What? Why?" She asked him, "Why not just kill her here?"

Harry fought back the urge to throttle the girl for even suggesting that and lovingly answered, "You said it yourself, she tried to tear us apart…we need to show her that she can't do that ever again. She must come with us, and we will kill her first. Then we can be blissfully joined together in the afterlife."

He didn't know if it was his tone or his choice of words that convinced her but nonetheless Ginny nodded slowly in agreement after obsevring Harry for a moment. She then untangled herself from him and walked over to Hermione. She bent over and picked up the other woman's wand before turning back to face Harry.

"I only have two bullets," She told him, "So we'll just use the wand on her.

Harry forced a smile and nodded, "Of course darling."

Ginny grinned and violently picked Hermione back up.

"Let's go," She said, "It's almost dark."

As the three walked out the door Harry managed to flash Hermione a secret smile when Ginny wasn't looking, silently trying to tell her that it would be okay. He only hoped she got the message…and of course he prayed that he was right.

Above them the new moon had just risen and on the ground the crickets had just begun to sing their nighttime song.

**A/N: The end is near.**


	13. Chapter 12

Hermione felt drowsy. Her arm was in such a state that she couldn't move it or even look at it. It was so bent out of shape she didn't know if even magic could help at this point. Ginny held a tight grip on her good arm which was starting to become numb. Hermione was practically being dragged along with them. She tried to get some kind of sign out of Harry that he knew what he was doing but ever since that secret smile he flashed her when they left the house, he had in no way acknowledged her.

'Harry,' she thought silently, 'what are you doing? What are you planning?'

Ginny guided them into a small clearing. The treetops above them were parted just enough for them to see the night sky. Wordlessly, she let go of Hermione's arm and the brunette fell to the ground before she could properly balance herself. Luckily, she landed on her good arm.

"Here we are!" Ginny squealed happily.

Harry grinned at her and appeared just as thrilled, although Hermione could see fear and disdain in his eyes. She still had absolutely no idea what he was doing, she could only hope it would work.

Ginny latched herself onto Harry's arm and Hermione began silently cursing the girl she once called friend. The redhead's face was contorted in a kind of sick joy as she stared lovingly at Harry.

"Are you ready darling?" She asked him in a throaty voice.

Harry smiled softly yet his eyes held no joy, "I am my love, let's do it."

Ginny nuzzled her head into his neck for a moment then pulled away and turned now cold eyes to their bushy haired companion.

"First," She said flatly, "we deal with her."

Harry looked at Hermione completely expressionless. She was absentmindedly rubbing her injured arm and watching her fiancée for any hint of reassurance but found none. Ginny pulled Hermione's wand from her pocket and offered it to Harry.

"Would you like to do it love?" She asked him sweetly.

Harry gazed hard at the wand him her hand and Hermione thought she saw his already clenched fists tighten. However he regarded Ginny with the same loving expression as he had since they left the house and gently pushed her hand away.

"No Ginny, you do it. You deserve it more." Harry told her softly.

Ginny stared at the wand for a few seconds before turning her gaze back to Harry and nodding. In truth she had wanted to be the one to finish Granger off, but had her beloved wanted to she would have let him. She looked to Hermione and decided to have one last bit of fun before killing her. She grabbed Harry by the hair and dragged him down to her level crashing his lips onto hers.

Hermione didn't move or react, reminding herself fiercely that Ginny kissed Harry and the only reason he hadn't pulled away already was because he couldn't let Ginny think he wasn't really enjoying it, at least not yet. Still the jealousy hit her in waves and she felt like grabbing the bitch by the throat and choking the life right out of her.

The kiss lasted for almost half a minute before Ginny let Harry go. The Boy Who Lived breathed heavily and fixed his slightly askew glasses. Ginny smiled at him with lust filled eyes,

"I was just thinking," She said in a voice that for most other people would sound seductive, "maybe before we go, we can have one last fling. You know, like we used to."

Harry for a brief moment looked sick but Ginny didn't notice. Hermione however was having an increasingly hard time controlling her anger.

_'How dare she.'_ Hermione raged in her mind.

"Perhaps." Harry answered, winking at her.

Ginny giggled, then seemed to go back into her serious mode and turned again to Hermione, this time with the intent to kill. A small smile forming on her face, Ginny approached the fallen witch,

"Hello Hermione," The redhead said evilly, "How are you feeling?"

Hermione considering edging back a little, but it wouldn't really matter if she did. She didn't even attempt to get up, Ginny would probably just finish her quicker or else knock her back down. Instead she just kept staring Ginny in the eye and refused to answer her question.

Ginny pointed the wand at Hermione's face in a threatening manner and smiled, "I hope you realize now that you have failed. Harry is all mine and you will never touch him again."

She took a step closer, the wand was now almost poking Hermione in the face; still she remained stoic.

"So," Ginny continued, "Do you have anything you'd like to say before I send you to hell where you belong?"

Again Hermione refused to answer. She could see Harry standing behind Ginny and for the first time since they got there he was wearing his emotions on his face; a mixture of fear, rage and determination. Ginny was still waiting for her to answer so Hermione turned her gaze back to her and slowly shook her head. Ginny's eyebrow rose,

"hmm…" she muttered softly, "Pity…"

Her grip on the wand tightened and Hermione knew this was it. If Harry really did have a plan, then now was the time. In the few seconds that followed this several things happened at once: Ginny began to speak the killing curse, Harry ran forward and knocked Ginny to the ground before she could finish and Hermione's wand flew from the other woman's hand and landed on the ground just as Harry's foot came to rest on that exact spot, snapping it in two.

* * *

At this point she was no longer Ginny. Ginny Weasley had died three years ago with her parents and her brothers. The woman Harry was currently holding by the neck was not the woman he once loved, to him she was a creature from hell and it was about time that she went back.

Ginny shrieked and flailed her arms around like crazy. Several times Harry almost lost his grip on her, but he held firm and refused to let go. Ginny's hands frantically moved to his eyes and after knocking his glasses away she began squeezing his eye balls in an effort to get him off before they started bleeding. Harry groaned furiously and rapidly shook his head from side to side eventually succeeding in getting her off him.

Ginny then changed tactics and managed to move her leg in between his. With a swift movement she kicked him in the groin finally causing him to remove his hands as he cried out in pain.

Meanwhile Hermione slowly managed to get up and ran at Ginny. The sudden movement made her broken arm sting badly but Hermione ignored it. She grabbed the redhead by her hair and pulled hard bringing her back down to the ground. Ginny shrieked furiously and then kicked Hermione in the legs causing her to fall again, this time on her bad arm.

Hermione screamed in pain while Ginny pulled her gun out of her jacket pocket. Before she could properly aim Harry once again collided with her. This caused the gun to misfire and the bullet nicked Harry's left shoulder.

Gasping in pain Harry clutched it while Ginny prepared to shoot him for real. Harry noticed this however and immediately grabbed the gun. After a brief struggle, Harry got a hold of the weapon. Instead of shooting her however he threw it away. All his sensibility gone at the moment, he wanted to make Ginny suffer as much as possible before she died.

Once again he began choking her. Ginny gagged, her eyes rolling around in her skull, still Harry refused to let up. This time Ginny struggled a lot less since she was still weak from the first time.

"Why don't you just choke?!" Harry roared through his teeth, "Just die already you sick twisted FUCK!!"

Ginny began making sounds like she was gargling and her hands took a weak hold on Harry's own throat in a last effort to save her own life. Finally with a long groan, Ginny stopped fighting him and her hands fell to the ground. Her eyes rolled into her skull and she fell limp underneath him.

Harry rolled off her breathing heavily. He saw Hermione crawling towards him and he almost smiled.

"Harry," Hermione sobbed as she reached for him.

Harry stretched his hand out and grabbed her by the wrist. Slowly and carefully he helped her to move toward him without making her other arm worse. Finally she was close enough for him to pull into an embrace. As he held her she began sobbing even harder and Harry could feel tears forming in his eyes as well.

"Harry," Hermione said again, "Oh god Harry are you alright?"

Harry chuckled a little despite the situation, "I should be asking you the same question."

Hermione looked quickly at her arm before staring back at her love's green eyes, "I'll be okay, but what about you? You've practically been in hell for the last few weeks."

At that Harry was again reminded of what had just happened, he stared at Ginny's inert form and a wave of sadness and regret bowled over him. Hermione followed his gaze to the body and when she saw it she immediately turned back to face him now understanding what was wrong.

"Harry," she told him softly, "You had to do it. She wasn't right in the head and she would have killed us."

"I know," Harry answered, "But she used to be our friend."

Hermione nodded in agreement, and she began to feel a bit of pity for the young woman. Her anger however was still present in her mind and that part of it was glad she was dead. By now the two of them had decided it was time to get up and were helping each other to stand. As they did another thought struck Hermione.

"Harry?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"Did you know what you were doing before?"Harry looked confused, "What? You mean when I attacked her?"

"Yeah," Hermione confirmed, "Because to be perfectly honest, it wasn't a very good plan."

Harry rolled his eyes and smiled, "Well actually, I kind of made it up as I went along."

Hermione stared at him incredulously for a moment and then let out a short laugh. Harry smiled a bit wider at her, almost bursting with joy that their whole ordeal was over. Then he noticed Hermione's expression had gone from happy to frightened.

"HARRY!!" She screamed

He whirled around in time to see Ginny come at him with a jagged rock. Luckily she missed but she recovered quickly. Harry threw a punch to her face that knocked her over. Her response was a wild scream and as she jammed the pointed edge of the rock into his leg. Harry screamed in pain and in that moment of weakness was thrown to the ground by Ginny who then threw herself on top of him and straddled his waist. She held him down by his neck and raised the rock to finish him.

In the struggle neither of them noticed Hermione disappear. Harry grabbed another rock from the ground that while not as sharp as the one Ginny had found was enough to make a significant cut on her cheek and the side of her neck as he dragged it down her skin. Ginny clutched her neck as Harry tried to take the opportunity to get her off him. The redhead realized this and proceeded to grab him by his hair and pull him upward. Once he was about a foot or so off the ground she moved then both over a little and slammed his head down onto a large rock that had been right next to them. She then pulled him up again and repeated the process.

The resulting collisions knocked Harry out for a few brief seconds. He woke up with a splitting headache. A strange red pool was forming around his head like a halo and for a moment he couldn't even remember how he got there. Then he noticed two woman who looked exactly the same staring down at him and it began to come back to him.

Ginny. Hermione. Ginny. Kill. Ginny. His mind was spinning, he knew she was going to kill him now, he knew Hermione would be next, he had to kill her now. But he just felt so tired…

Ginny stood over him and raised the rock to hover just above his face. Her figure was becoming hazy as was everything else. His ears were filled with a horrible roaring sound and he felt that whatever happened, he would die there that night.

Despite the roaring, Harry could clearly hear it when the gunshot rang out. He could hear the cawing of birds that hadn't flown off at the first shot that night as they flew away themselves. His vision returned to him just enough that he could see the blood pouring out the fatal wound in Ginny's chest and behind her, Hermione leaning heavily against a tree, the once forgotten gun in her hand.

Then his vision was overtaken by a wave of red hair as Ginny fell forward onto him. With a moan he managed to push her off. She rolled on her back stopping right next to him and her wide frantic eyes stared up at his.

"Ha- Har-" She tired to say as her body began to shiver slightly, "Har-"

The shivering stopped and her eyes glazed over, unseeing for the rest of eternity.

Once again things began to go dark. He thought he could hear another voice calling his name and he could see someone standing over him.

"Hold on Harry, you're going to make it. She dead now, it's over!"

He felt her grab his hand and continued assuring him that he would live, his mind began to shut down and the prospect of sleep became very welcoming.

"Harry? HARRY!! Don't go to sleep! Stay with me! Stay-"

Her voice became nothing but a jumbled up mess and his vision faded almost to black. The pain was increasing. He closed his eyes.

* * *

**A/N: NOT The End.**


	14. Epilogue

**A/N: I started this story almost a year ago. I can't believe it's finally over. I am happy to get the ending written though, I've had it in mind since I first started and have been looking forward to writing it ever since. **

**I want to thank all my lovely reviewers for their words of encouragement and praise. I'm just as sad as you are that the story is now over. I will of course be going back and correctly some little mistakes (because I know I made them) and I hope if you liked this story you'll read some of my others. But anyway, thanks again. We've had a good run and now without further ado, the conclusion to Misery's Company…**

* * *

_Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear._

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

* * *

_I'll be seeing you in every lovely summer's day  
__In everything that's light and gay  
I'll always think of you that way  
I'll find you in the mornin' sun  
And when the night is new  
I'll be looking at the moon  
But I'll be seeing you_

-'I'll Be Seeing You' As preformed by Liberace

* * *

EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER

Hermione walked into her apartment and immediately dropped on the couch. She kicked her shoes off absentmindedly and let out a long, tired sigh. She considered turning on the TV or reading a book, but at the moment she was content with just staring at the ceiling and thinking about her life so far.

It was times like this that the memories of Harry's abduction usually found their way into her train of thought. At first it had been extremely painful to remember what happened to them all those months ago. She remembered the fatal bullet she sent into her old friend's body, the horrible feeling that after all that had happened, Harry would die.

She didn't even know how she managed to clear her thoughts enough to apparate or where she got the strength to do so. Hermione quietly touched her wand arm, the healers had done a good job mending it even though the bone still stuck out at a slightly odd angle. It was Harry that they had all really worried about though. As soon as Ron was discharged he and Luna began spending as much time as possible by Harry's bedside. Hermione was there constantly, the only times she left were to help the Aurors retrieve Draco's body and bring it back to his family.

That day however, the memories brought her no sadness, only a hint of regret at how things turned out for Ginny Weasley.

When Hermione heard the door open, she smiled; she couldn't wait to tell him the news.

"Hermione?" He called out.

She slowly got up off the couch and saw his back was turned to her. She crept up behind him and softly touched his shoulder. He jumped only a little for he was used to her doing this, it had become almost like a game to them. He turned and smiled, pulling her into a hug.

"Hello love." Harry Potter whispered in his wife's ear.

Hermione giggled happily, not for the first time thankful that he had survived.

"How was work?" She asked him.

"The usual," Harry answered, "It's still a headache sometimes but I like it a lot better since Goldman retired."

"I think they have you to thank for that." Hermione answered.

Harry looked at her with mock-hurt, "Why Hermione, are you implying that I had something to do with my dear old boss's early retirement?"

"Maybe," Hermione answered teasingly.

Harry crossed his arms and 'hmphed', "Well now I'm insulted, just because he resigned a week after I came back to work doesn't mean I had anything to do with it."

Hermione chuckled and moved into the kitchen to make them both something to drink.

"So how was your day?" Harry called to her while he sat down on the couch.

"Fine," She answered, excitement bubbling in her stomach, "I had lunch with Luna. She said that Anna learned to say 'Snorcack' the other day."

"Oh really?" Harry asked not really caring, he knew Hermione had something important to tell him.

"Yeah, she was really happy." Said Hermione nodding, "Then I did a little shopping, came home and got some work done, watched a movie…"

Harry rolled his eyes, he wished she would just tell him how her appointment went, "Hermione, that's all fine and good but what did the doctor say?"

Hermione smiled, and pretended not to notice his impatience as she brought him some coffee and a cup of orange juice for herself, "Oh yes I was just about to mention that!"

Harry narrowed his eyes playfully, "Well?"

Hermione took a sip of her juice and continued, "She said I'm coming along nicely and everything looks good."

Harry waited for her to tell him the rest and when she didn't, he became anxious, "Is that all?"

Hermione flashed him a knowing smile, "Why, did you want to know something?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Yeah, who is it? David or Chloe?"

"Oh is that all?" Hermione asked as if it wasn't that big of a thing. Then she smiled again, "Guess."

Harry stared at her, "What?"

"You heard me," Said Hermione, "Take a guess."

Harry sighed and turned away from his wife, thinking for a moment about an answer.

"Can I have a hint?"

Hermione giggled, "Harry, there are only two for you to choose from, you've got a fifty-fifty shot right there, just guess."

Harry let out a long exaggerated sigh, "Why must you play games with me?"

"Harry." Hermione said urging him to give his answer.

Finally he turned to fully face her and smiled, "Okay…David?"

At first she gave no indication that he was right or wrong so Harry began to assume the latter, and then a wide smile appeared on Hermione's face and she nodded.

Harry took the information in and said the only thing he could think of: "Wow."

Hermione's smile faltered a bit, "You're not happy are you?"

"What?" Harry asked in mock disbelief before hugging her closer to him, "Of course I'm happy, I just…"

His wife tilted her head a little, "Just what?"

Harry shook his head and chuckled softly, "It's silly I know. I just well, I kind of imagine Chloe would be first."

Hermione grinned, knowing it was time to tell him the truth, "Well you know Harry, she just might be."

The former savior's face became wrought with confusion, "But you just said…"

Before he could finish he noticed her smile, and it clicked in his mind. His eyes widened and went straight to the brunette's growing stomach.

"No." He gasped.

Hermione nodded, tears in her eyes, "Yes."

His heart swelled and he hugged his wife to him even harder, but not hard enough to hurt their child.

_'Children.'_ He corrected himself silently.

"Oh Hermione, do you know what this mean?" Harry asked happily into her hair, "We're going to be parents…twice over! We going to…" He pulled away, leaving Hermione a bit confused.

"What?"

"We're going to need another crib." Harry finished.

Hermione just laughed.

* * *

As Harry held his wife's sleeping form he realized he had never felt happier. Though he had never been religious he thanked whatever god was up there for his wife, his family, and for his survival of that horrible ordeal.

He and Hermione had silently agreed to never talk about it again, both deciding they should either remember Ginny as she used to be or not remember her at all. Harry usually chose the latter, but every now and then he would think about her.

In a bizarre way the whole experience helped him, much like the fight with Voldemort had. It reminded him that he should appreciate all that he had, for tomorrow it might not be there. He would grow old and he would die. His children would grow up and start their own lives, as would their children, and their children's children. There would be good times and there would be bad times, and one day either he would be visiting Hermione's grave or she would his. Not for a very long time though and right now all that mattered to him was Hermione and the young lives growing inside of her. He gently rubbed her stomach, making extra sure he didn't wake her. Finally his eyelids became heavy.

"Good night Hermione," He whispered softly, "Good night David and Chloe…"

When Harry awoke the sun was just rising. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and felt Hermione stir beside him. Harry smiled and rolled onto his back. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed having her near him.

"Good morning love." He murmured to her.

He felt her move around a little more, probably turning to face him. He smiled.

"Harry…"

His eyes snapped open. Hands wrapped themselves around his throat before he could move or speak. Harry flailed desperately, but her grip was like iron. Ginny glared down at him, her red hair dirty and messy. Her eyes filled with evil. Harry looked desperately around for Hermione as his fear and anguish skyrocketed. Where was she?

Ginny tightened her hold on him and leaned forward, so close that had she been breathing he would have felt it on his face.

"I'm always with you Harry." She hissed in his ear, almost mockingly. Her voice seemed to echo throughout the room.

Harry gagged, tears streaming down his face. He couldn't get away, she was finally going to kill him, just as she had wanted…

"Always with you…"

She started to giggle softly, but it roared in Harry's ears. With one last burst of strength he wrenched her hands away and let out a strangled cry.

The first thing Harry noticed when he sat up was the sound of his own screams. Then he realized it was once again dark, and Hermione was shouting his name from next to him.

"HARRY?! HARRY!! HARRY CALM DOWN!!" She yelled pulling him back down and holding him.

Harry stopped screaming and began to hyperventilate. His head was going in five directions at once looking for Ginny. She was no where to be found. He looked outside, it was still night time. The clock on his nightstand read 3:27 am. The sun wouldn't be up for a long time. He looked at Hermione's side of the bed. She was there as she was every night. There was not a soul in the room besides them.

Nor had there been…

His breathing slowed down and he wiped the cold sweat from his brow. Hermione was still watching him urgently trying to find a reason for his outburst.

"Harry what's wrong?" She asked fearfully.

"I… I…" Harry tried to say as he looked around one last time, even though he knew he wouldn't find her.

Ginny Weasley was dead…she wasn't coming back.

"It's nothing." He finally said settling down once again.

"Nothing?" Hermione repeated incredulously, "Harry you just woke up screaming, that can't be nothing."

Harry only held her to him, a little tighter than usual she noted. Almost as if he was scared she would leave if he let go.

"No really," he insisted, "It's fine. Don't worry about. We can't have you overexerting yourself right now, it's bad for the children."

"But Harry.." Hermione protested softly.

He only shushed her, his eyes trailing away from her and out the window at the full moon.

"Just sleep now Hermione, it's okay." Harry whispered as she fell back asleep in his arms.

"It was just a dream…just a bad dream…"

THE END


End file.
